Heavenly Jewel Change Chapter 141-150

Chapter 141 Heavenly Emperor Disciple!

Looking at the kneeling Zhou Weiqing in front of him, the large fatty laughed heartily, letting go of Shangguan Fei’er and turning to Zhou Weiqing, saying airily: “Very well, since you are begging so sincerely, then this Heavenly Emperor will take up the onerous task of taking you as disciple. You may rise.”

“Thank you Master.” Zhou Weiqing would naturally complete his entire act, and he respectfully kowtowed three times to the Six Ultimate Heavenly Emperor before standing up, standing honestly and industriously beside him.

At this moment, the Six Ultimate Heavenly Emperor was smiling happily, looking on with a pleased expression at his new disciple.

In truth, when the Blood Red Hell members had started ﬁghting with Zhou Weiqing and his companions, this Six Ultimate Heavenly Emperor had already been there. He had some connection with the Snow Deer Tribe, and had been relaxing here with a nice feast when he had sensed two of the Snow Deer Tribesmen die, and he had come to investigate. When he had seen Zhou Weiqing’s party clashing with the Blood Red Hell party, he decided to stop and watch ﬁrst. When he saw Zhou Weiqing’s Seven Stars Accompanying the Moon Archery Skill, he couldn’t help but give a small cry of surprise; and that was because he had seen with a single glance how many Attributes Zhou Weiqing had.

At the Heavenly Emperor Stage level, many things that ordinary people could not sense were extremely clear to his eyes. As for what exactly were the six Attributes of Zhou Weiqing’s Alexandrite Cat’s Eye, he could not see clearly at once, but he could deﬁnitely tell that there were six Attributes indeed. Furthermore, he had been able to sense several of the Attributes from Zhou Weiqing’s usage of the Seven Stars Accompanying the Moon and the imbued skills.

The reason why he had been called the Six Ultimate was because he was just like Zhou Weiqing, with Six Elemental Attributes. He did not belong to any Great Saint Lands or any sects, and was an extremely rare, independent Heavenly Jewel Master who had fully trained on his own. Although from the surface appearance he seemed to be only forty odd years of age, he was actually over a hundred years old. As such, although he called Shangguan Tianyang a little rascal, in terms of age and generation wise, it was indeed true. After all, he had risen to fame together with the previous Palace Master of the Heaven’s Expanse Place. Out of all the independent Heavenly Jewel Masters, he was deﬁnitely the most powerful, and the toughest to deal with. Due to his six Attributes and love of freedom, although the Six Ultimate Heavenly Emperor was already over a hundred years old, up until now he had not found any disciples. At that moment, when he spotted Zhou Weiqing with his six Attributes, he could no longer resist. Furthermore, he had an appreciation of Zhou Weiqing’s character; even leaving the

impressive Seven Stars Accompanying the Moon Archery Skill

and its effects aside, just by succeeding in scaring off the Blood Red Hell members showed his will and cunning. In his eyes, such sly and cunning people were able to live the longest. As such, he had jumped out to get Zhou Weiqing to acknowledge him as master. Although he knew that his kowtowing had elements of acting, he did not care. Being able to gain such a disciple was of great importance to him as well.

A good teacher was hard to ﬁnd, but at the same time, correspondingly, a good disciple was also a tough ﬁnd! Six Attributes… such a rare occurrence that the Six Ultimate Heavenly Emperor did not know if there was a third person in the world with the same number of attributes. As such, when such an opportunity came before him, no matter whether Zhou Weiqing was willing or not, he would not let it go so easily.

Beaming with delight, he looked on at Zhou Weiqing, whose face was respectful but eyes swirling around in his sockets. The Six Ultimate Heavenly Emperor smiled and said: “From now on, you are my only disciple. Your name is Zhou Weiqing right, Zhou Little Fatty, Little Fatty being Large Fatty’s disciple, how nice. This old man’s face is Long Shiya. Remember clearly, in the future, if you meet any trouble, do you still need to report the name of the Heaven’s Expanse Palace? Just use this old man’s name, and see who dares touch you, and I will tear out his tendons and ﬂay his skin. Hahahahaha.” Finally getting a disciple that satisﬁed his requirements, this big hearted Six Ultimate Heavenly Emperor who had always did what he pleased could no longer hold back and burst out laughing heartily, carefree.

“Come, your teacher has to speak to you. The rest of you, wait here.” As he said that, Long Shiya grabbed Zhou Weiqing’s shoulders with one hand, and the rest of the group felt their eyes blur before them, and the two disappeared.

It was not the Blink Skill that Zhou Weiqing was so familiar with, but he felt as if his surroundings blurred around him and after an instant, when the surroundings seemed to come clear again, both he and Long Shiya appeared in a tent.

This tent was much larger and grandiose than the one they had been resting in. The ﬂoor was lined with thick animal furs, though he could not tell which animal they had come from. There were four braziers around the tent warming the tent into a comfortable temperature, and there was a large table which was ﬁlled with all sorts of different delicious look foods and fruits.

Long Shiya sat down at the side of the table and said: “Come, let’s sit, eat while we speak. With me, you do not need to be so formal or restricted, after all, it is just us two master and disciple, not any large sect. As long as you don’t anger this old man, you can do whatever you want. Even if you want to knock down the Heaven’s Expanse Palace, this old man will support you all the way.”

Being forced to become someone’s disciple might not be something that made anyone happy.

However, Zhou Weiqing’s manner of thinking had always been different from normal. For him, it was just like if a beautiful woman was being *ahemed*, and was unable to resist, then he would just choose to enjoy it, rather than suffer extra unnecessary harm.

It could be said that Zhou Weiqing was a very optimistic person, and a large portion of time he would always think of the best outcomes. This time was no exception; everything else aside, after he had become Long Shiya’s disciple, from the words of this new teacher of his, he could tell that he truly liked him, and was extremely protective to boot.

As a disciple, who wouldn’t like his teacher to be protective? Perhaps others might not, but Zhou Weiqing deﬁnitely loved that. Furthermore, his new teacher was a Heavenly Emperor Stage powerhouse.

“Master, you don’t belong to any Sect? Or any of the Great Saint Lands?” Zhou Weiqing asked curiously.

Long Shiya shook his head and said: “This old man has always been alone, all the way from a young age I have been solitary, and up until now that is still true. Well, at least now I’ll have someone now that I have you as a disciple. All my life, I have spent everything on cultivating and training, and I have not thought of anything else. Alright, enough about me. What about you? If I have not guessed wrongly, your teacher should be from the Heavenly Demon Sect right?”

Zhou Weiqing shook his head and said: “No!”

Long Shiya started momentarily before saying: “No?” Taking a deep look at Zhou Weiqing, he said: “Little brat, I might not mind other things, but if you lie to me, I will deﬁnitely punish you. If you are not from the Heavenly Demon Sect, is that controllable Demonic Change State and Devour Skill fake? Don’t think I do not know what those two skills mean to the Heavenly Demon Sect? You should be the next Sect Master in training for the Heavenly Demon Sect right?”

“Master, I really am not.” Zhou Weiqing gave a bitter smile. As such, he began to simply speak of all his experiences from the start of his cultivation.

Hearing his words, even Long Shiya with his vast knowledge and experience was in shock, and he couldn’t help but exclaim: “That’s actually possible?! Just eating some pearl and you got six Attributes? Little brat, your luck is indeed unbelievable. Although this old man also has six Attributes, I can’t even remember how much suffering I went through in training, how I had to hide and be so secretive… Before I became strong, I was so afraid about others learning about my multiple Attributes. Just in terms of Skill Storing and Consolidating Equipment, it took me so much time and effort… In fact, only after the age of ﬁfty did I actually dare to show myself in the mainland. Sigh… comparisons are odious indeed! Haha! Well, this is a good thing though, in future, you will deﬁnitely surpass that Old Xue fellow. Heh heh, come, let me see that Yin Fire in your body.” As he said that, he placed his hands on Zhou Weiqing’s wrist, extending his senses into his meridians. However, when he did so, he was stunned once again. That was because he could not sense any sign of hidden injuries or the yin ﬁre within his body.

“Impossible! Han Tianyou clearly sent the yin ﬁre into your body, how could there be no sign of it at all? You injured him so heavily, with his character, he would never let you go. My senses cannot be wrong!”

Zhou Weiqing grinned and said: “Teacher, you don’t need to think so much. In truth, that is because I am immune to all Fire Attribute powers.”

Long Shiya looked at him and gave an exasperated grunt. “Immune your head! You’re just at the Four Jeweled cultivation level, can you possibly be immune to a Heavenly King Stage Yin Fire? I don’t believe you.”

Zhou Weiqing said: “Of course I can’t on my own. However, there is a unique power in my body, I think its called something like Solidiﬁed Dragon Spirit. It is also of the Fire Attribute, and deﬁnitely of a higher level than a Heavenly King Stage. That is the reason why I am immune to most Fire Attribute powers.” Long Shiya’s jaw dropped. “What?! Solidiﬁed Dragon Spirit?? Where did you meet a Dragon?” He was so agitated that he grabbed hold onto Zhou Weiqing’s arm.

“Teacher, softer…” Zhou Weiqing hurriedly cried out in pain.

Long Shiya quickly let go of his arm, looking at Zhou Weiqing, his fat face with a very strange expression. He did not even know what to say. Demonic Change State, Solidiﬁed Dragon Spirit. Any of these powers were powers that any Heavenly Jewel Master would dream to have! Perhaps the Demonic Change State might be some cause of trouble due to being of the Evil Attribute, but Zhou Weiqing could control his! As for the Solidiﬁed Dragon Spirit, that was even more impressive. Even the hundred year old Long Shiya had only heard of the legends, but never actually seen a Heavenly Jewel Master with one. Only a mortal enemy of his had actually a similar power to the Solidiﬁed Dragon Spirit.

Zhou Weiqing did not have anything to hide from Long Shiya, and he quickly explained the whole process about how he gained the Solidiﬁed Dragon Spirit.

“Hmph, little brat, no wonder you wanted to bet with me, you already knew you would win. Luckily, this old man didn’t fall for it.” Long Shiya gave a cold humph, but he was actually grinning deep in his heart. This time, I have really picked up a true gem! Hahahaha!

Indeed, he had deﬁnitely picked up a gem, but the Heavenly Demon Sect and the Heaven’s Expanse Palace had both suffered a huge loss. No matter the Heavenly Demon Sect or the Heaven’s Expanse Palace, both had been counting on their status as Great Saint Lands, and though they had tried to recruit Zhou Weiqing, they would ultimately not do the same like Long Shiya to directly force him to join them, due to their pride as Great Saint Lands. Alas, this allowed Long Shiya to get a step ahead to gain him as a disciple. “Alright, enough about that. Hurry up and eat, after that I want to see you run through all your Skills once, to see what abilities you have and Attributes, so I know how to guide you further.”

Zhou Weiqing agreed, but deep inside he was a little doubtful. So what if he was a Heavenly Emperor Stage powerhouse? He was still conﬁdent that the Skills that he had Stored were incomparable to anyone of his generation, or even anyone of his level, even amongst those of the Great Saint Lands, though his Heavenly Energy might be slightly weaker. After Zhou Weiqing had gone through the Three-Thousand Tempering Training Technique for all his Skills, he was extremely conﬁdent that he had already reached the limit that a Heavenly Jewel Master could be at for his level. Even though Long Shiya was a Heavenly Emperor Stage powerhouse, he did not think that Long Shiya could teach him much.

After all, even his cultivation technique was the Immortal Deity Technique, a Technique that had even stunned the Heaven’s Expanse Palace. Of course, the danger it held was great, but with the bloodline of the Dark Demon God Tiger and the Solidiﬁed Dragon Spirit, that danger was already reduced to the lowest possible. However, he would still listen to Long Shiya’s words. He wanted to know what this new teacher of his would be able to teach him. As such, he started to use his Skills one by one, and as he did so, he painstakingly controlled them as best he could, displaying his best to Long Shiya.

As Zhou Weiqing and Long Shiya were in their tent, on the other side, the shock and surprise on Shangguan Fei’er and the others’ faces had not diminished yet.

Ma Qun’s tolerance was the worst, and not long after Zhou Weiqing had been grabbed off by Long Shiya, he could not resist and asked Shangguan Fei’er in a low tone: “Lady Shangguan, who is this Six Ultimate Heavenly Emperor? Is he really that powerful?”

Shangguan Fei’er glanced at him and said exasperatedly: “A Heavenly Emperor Stage powerhouse, what do you think, is he powerful or not?”

Zhan LingTian’s brow was furrowed and he said: “It has been almost twenty years since the Six Ultimate Heavenly Emperor has been last seen in world, why would he appear here suddenly. Fei’er, it looks like we have to change our plans to enter the Ten Thousand Beast Heavens. We have to return to report the reappearance of the Six Ultimate Heavenly Emperor immediately, to allow the two Palace Masters to decide what to do. If he were to join hands with the Heavenly Snow Mountain, that would be much trouble.”

Shangguan Fei’er shook her head and said: “The Six Ultimate Heavenly Emperor will not join hands with the Heavenly Snow Mountain. Didn’t you see that he was dressed in black? If not for the fact that he was against the Heavenly Snow Mountain, would he dress like that?”

Ma Qun continued asking: “Isn’t the Six Ultimate Heavenly Emperor from one of the Great Saint Lands? Why does it seem like even the Heaven’s Expanse Palace is a little afraid of him?”

A complicated look crossed Shangguan Fei’er’s face, and she nodded slightly as she said: “Indeed, we are a little afraid of him. Let me explain why that is so. The Six Ultimate Heavenly Emperor is actually a self taught cultivator, and he does not belong to any Great Saint Lands or even any Sect at all. He has always been a solitary person. However, this person is one totally enamoured with cultivating and training, and he has never married anyone. To him, there is nothing else that he cares more than cultivating or ﬁghting. His favourite thing to do is to travel the lands and challenge all powerhouses, and he once came to our Heaven’s Expanse Palace to do so.” This was an absolute secret of the Heaven’s Expanse Palace, and even Zhan LingTian did not know about it. After all, he was not of the direct bloodline of the Heaven’s Expanse Palace, and he couldn’t help but exclaim in surprise: “He has actually come to our Heaven’s Expanse Palace before? He challenged

the First Palace Master?”

Shangguan Fei’er gave a bitter smile as she said: “No, he did not challenge Big Uncle. When he came to the Heaven’s Expanse Palace, that was more than forty years ago. At that time, my Big Uncle was about the same age as I am now. The one he challenged was my grandfather.”

Zhan LingTian exclaimed in shock: “He actually challenged the Old Palace Master?! What was the result?”

Shangguan Fei’er gave another bitter smile as he said: “Their cultivation level was equal, and only with the Boundless Inﬁnitum Set did my grandfather barely win him slightly. At that time, the Six Ultimate Heavenly Emperor did not even have an full completed set of God Tier Consolidated Equipment. Rumour is that ten years after that, he came once more to the Heaven’s Expanse Palace, but the result of that challenge is unknown. However, after that ﬁght, my grandfather passed the Palace Master position to my Big Uncle before leaving to travel the world. Before he left, he told my Big Uncle this – ‘In terms of innate talent, I am no match for Fatty Long. In terms of effort and exertion, I have lost out even more.’ After that, my grandfather vanished, and we have not heard from him ever since, and we do not even know if he is still alive. This way, you should know how powerful this Long Shiya is right?”

Hearing those words, all of them drew a deep cold breath. Clearly, during the second ﬁght between this Six Ultimate Heavenly Emperor and the old Palace Master of the Heaven’s Expanse Palace, it had resulted in the former’s win.

Shangguan Fei’er said: “Big Uncle’s appraisal of the Six Ultimate Heavenly Emperor was that he was the ﬁrst amongst all Heavenly Emperor Stage powerhouses. He also has another nickname, a Heavenly God amongst all Heavenly Emperor Stages. He is also the only person in the world who actually went up the Heavenly Snow Mountain to challenge the Heavenly Snow Mountain Lord and succeeded in coming out alive. Although he has never managed to break through to the Heavenly God Stage, it is unlikely that there are many in the entire continent that can defeat this Six Ultimate Heavenly Emperor on a one-on-one ﬁght. Besides the Heavenly Snow Mountain Lord, the known top powerhouse in the world, even the leaders of the other Great Saint Lands cannot say with conﬁdence that they can defeat him. Little Fatty becoming his disciple is deﬁnitely not a bad thing… I just never expected that we would meet him here.”

Unfortunately, Zhou Weiqing did not hear Shangguan Fei’er’s words, otherwise he would not think that Long Shiya, a man who was so immersed in cultivating for over a hundred years could not teach him. At that point, he was still in the tent, unleashing his Skills one by one to Long Shiya.

Due to the fact that many of his Skills were rather costly in terms of Heavenly Energy, Zhou Weiqing could only use a few before he needed to recover Heavenly Energy, and he would resume unleashing them after that.

Long Shiya sat there silently, watching him unleash his Skills unceasingly. He did not give any comment, allowing him to continue uninterrupted.

Zhou Weiqing had to rest three times to full recovery before he managed to unleash all his twenty four Skills, with the exception of the Time Reversal Skill.

“Master, I’ll not use the Time Reversal Skill alright? This Skill is rather unique.” Long Shiya nodded, before looking at his young disciple, who was looking rather pleased with himself. Finally, he said: “Do you think that your complement of Skills is very good?”

Zhou Weiqing grinned and said: “It’s alright, my luck was quite good so I managed to Store some higher rated Skills.”

Long Shiya gave a humph and said: “Do you know what my rating for all your Skills are? Just two words… Totally Useless.”

“Besides the recovery speed of your Heavenly Energy being impressive, that cultivation method of yours is a waste of time and life. With such unbelievable talent, you are just walking on the wrong path.”

“Ahh?” Zhou Weiqing stared at Long Shiya with a gaping jaw. In his imagination, this new teacher of his should have praised him, yet the reverse had happened. He had so many powerful Skills, yet he had been deemed totally useless!”

Zhou Weiqing was not convinced, saying: “Teacher, these Skills of mine are still okay right? Most of them are rated seven or eight Stars, with some even able to produce the Heavenly Skill Image. If this is considered useless, then what can be considered good?” Long Shiya gave a disdainful smirk and said: “Watch this.”

As he said that, he lifted up his right hand, and a dim light appeared around his palm. It was a tiny Wind Blade, its entire body formed of a brilliant green, glowing brightly in an eye catching light. Although it was just a tiny wind blade, it seemed to shimmer with a slight gold aura, looking just like an actual blade, and Zhou Weiqing did not doubt the power of this Wind Blade.

The miraculous thing was that as soon as this Wind Blade was unleashed, a shimmering image appeared slowly behind Long Shiya’s back. It was clearly a Heavenly Skill Image forming!

“Teacher, what is that Skill? A Heavenly God Tier Skill?” Zhou Weiqing asked curiously.

Long Shiya said: “Bullshit, what Heavenly god Tier Skill?

This is a low level, one-star rated Wind Blade.”

A look of disbelief crossed Zhou Weiqing’s face as he said: “Teacher, although all my Skills are self learned and I did not have much proper teachings, I am still able to recognize a Heavenly Skill Image. If it is not a Heavenly God Tier Skill, how could there possibly be a Heavenly Skill Image?”

Long Shiya laughed coldly and said: “You little fool, look clearly at what my Heavenly Skill Image is before you speak.”

Zhou Weiqing lifted his head to look. By this time, the shimmering green Heavenly Skill Image had fully formed behind Long Shiya, and the moment he lifted his head, Zhou Weiqing’s jaw dropped. The Heavenly Skill Image was actually the rotund, fat Long Shiya!

“This… this…” What appeared before his eyes was far beyond Zhou Weiqing’s experience and knowledge. How could one’s Heavenly Skill Image be of himself?! Could it be this teacher of his was actually a Heavenly Beast?

The light ﬂashed once more, and the Wind Blade in Long Shiya hands changed into a small tornado, swirling around in his palm. However, that Heavenly Skill Image behind his back did not change, still the green Long Shiya.

Once again, a ﬂash of light, and the green tornado abruptly changed into a ﬁreball… a familiar ﬁreball that was rated one star. This time, the Heavenly Skill Image behind his back changed to a red colour, but the form did not change, still that familiar rotund ﬁgure of Long Shiya.

The little ﬁreball turned into an ice spike, and the only change to the Heavenly Skill Image was once again its colour, from red to blue. Zhou Weiqing’s head was currently in a mess, totally at a loss. At this point, he felt like everything he had learned thus far was a lie, his world turned upside down. Hearing Long Shiya’s words, he could only shake his head subconsciously.

Long Shiya said passively: “I no longer have any Skills Stored. All my previous Skills, I have wiped away.”

“What?!” Even though Zhou Weiqing had guessed that the answer would be something he could not expect, he still had not in his wildest dreams guessed that it would be SO unimaginable.

Long Shiya continued passively: “You also have Six Attributes, and in truth, all the Skills you have Stored are very strong. However, you should have also learned from experience that with your cultivation level, you can’t even use them all once through. I know what you are thinking, in the future as your cultivation level raises, you will be able to use them all. However, do not forget that as your cultivation level rises, your Heavenly Energy increases, you will still be gaining more Stored Skills. Each extra Heavenly Jewel… you will gain six more Skills! In that case, if you actually reach the Heavenly God Stage, how many Skills would you have? Seventy Two!”

“Heavenly Skills, they are gifts of nature. Each and every Heavenly Skill have their own profound secrets behind them, and they cannot be explained so simply by that laughably simple rating system. Before meeting me, have you ever imagined that a mere Wind blade could have the power of a Heavenly God Tier Skill?”

Zhou Weiqing shook his head numbly.

Long Shiya said: “Exactly. As such, the effects of Heavenly Skills are all just a form or pattern of Heavenly Energy usage. Any Heavenly Skill, when trained up to the absolute maximum, they will all be able to produce the greatest power possible. If in future you have seventy two Skills, let me ask you, how many can you actually train to the absolute maximum? Hmph, I’m afraid that the answer is not a single one. You might think now that you already have some control over your Skills. Well, let me tell you, you are far from being even close to the maximum. In order to train a single Skill to the maximum, that will take an unbelievable amount of time, energy and effort. Unless you can live up to a thousand years old, otherwise you can forget about training all seventy two Skills to the absolute maximum.” “This question had plagued me for a long time, and it was only at the age of sixty one before I ﬁnally straightened out my thinking. At that time, I was already at the Heavenly King Stage cultivation level. As such, I used my own Heavenly Dao Energy to forcefully erase all my Stored Skills, blazing a trail of my own to just focus on the control of my Heavenly Energy and Attributes. Ten years later, I ﬁnally mastered this Skill Manipulation Arts of mine. From that time onwards, I did not have any Skills Stored, but it could be also said that I have all Skills of my six Attributes, and I have no longer any need to Skill Store anything. In fact, I can actually create Skills of my own according to my need. Furthermore, I can use them all to the greatest degree that my current cultivation level is at. At the same time, I could start creating my own fusion Skills as I

could come up with, with only my imagination and creativity as my limit.”

Zhou Weiqing sucked in a deep cold breath. Although Long Shiya had not described much, from his words Zhou Weiqing had already understood much. This was truly a totally new path that Long Shiya had carved on his own, one so different from the current cultivation of Heavenly Jewel Masters today. This was truly a miraculous deed. After all, Long Shiya’s words had totally overturned everything Zhou Weiqing had learned about Heavenly Skills. Looking at Zhou Weiqing’s vacuous expression, Long Shiya said with a pleased expression: “This control skill of mine, before the Sixth Jeweled cultivation level, there is actually no real advantage to be had, perhaps even lesser. However, as your cultivation level rises, the advantages grow more and more obvious. Do you know what the greatest beneﬁt to this Skill Manipulation Arts of mine?”

Zhou Weiqing suddenly seemed to wake up, and a light ﬂashed in his head, and sudden inspiration struck him, and the words seemed to escape his mouth involuntarily: “No cooldown!”

It was Long Shiya’s turn to be surprised: “That’s right, how did you think of that?”

Zhou Weiqing said: “Since teacher is able to control Heavenly Energy to duplicate any Skill of the level, then those are all duplicated or simulated Skills, so there shouldn’t be any cooldown for them right? Furthermore, just now I saw teacher using the Fetters of Wind on both Little Red Bean and Fei’er.”

Long Shiya said with a satisﬁed smile: “That’s right, very good. Being able to draw inferences with just a few hints, you are indeed my good disciple. What you said is indeed true, one of the greatest beneﬁt of this Skill Manipulation Arts of mine is being able to use those skills consecutively without any cooldown. At the same time, you’re able to use them at the power level required with the lowest possible expenditure of Heavenly Energy. As such, as long as you have enough Heavenly Energy, you can keep using these Skills one after the

other as much as you want.”

Zhou Weiqing thought about it for a moment, then said: “That is to say, at my current four Jeweled cultivation level, if I can learn this Skill Manipulation Arts of yours, then I will be able to use any Skills of my six Attributes to my current Four Jeweled level of power right?”

Long Shiya nodded and said: “Exactly that. If you are able to learn more attribute fusions and fuse some Skills together, the power will be much greater.”

Revelation struck Zhou Weiqing and he said: “I get it, no wonder you said it might actually be a detriment to my current power by using this Skill Manipulation Arts, as the sheer power of my Skills might drop. However, the future prospects would be far greater if I went down this path. After all, we have the beneﬁt of having so many Attributes, and just being able to fuse them in all the various possibilities is a massive boon. The more Attributes we have, the greater number of fusion possibilities… no wonder you would only accept me as your disciple…”

Long Shiya did not hide his admiration for his new disciple, clapping him on the shoulder as he said: “Very good, it sure does save me much time and effort teaching you things. As long as you understand, that is great.”

Zhou Weiqing said: “Teacher, then should I follow your lead and erase all my Skills too before I learn your Skill Manipulation Arts?” If he were to say that he was not highly tempted by all of that, it would be a lie. Just the single beneﬁt of having no cooldowns was already a power that could topple the heavens, let alone the other beneﬁts of the Skill Manipulation Arts. This was truly something that would make him incomparable to any of his level. After all, the power of Fusion Skills were extremely clear to Zhou Weiqing, his own Dark Demon God Lightning was exactly that. Just that three Attributes Fusion Skill alone had let him defeat Shen Little Demon, who was at a cultivation level three Jewels higher than him at that time. If he could unleash a Six Attribute Fusion Skill in the future, what kind of power would it hold?

Long Shiya shook his head, saying: “It is not necessary to erase them all. There is no point in purposefully dropping your current combat prowess just to learn my Six Ultimate Skill Manipulation Arts. At the same time, you will not need to focus on training those Skills any longer. Besides your Heavenly Energy cultivation, all of your focus should be on my Six Ultimate Skill Manipulation Arts. Once you have some mastery of it, any Skill in your hands will be able to be at your maximum.”

As he spoke up to this point, he paused slightly before continuing: “Well, it’s not that you do not need to Skill Store any longer… if there are any Heavenly God Tier Skills, do not pass them up. Although our Six Ultimate Skill Manipulation Arts can ultimately allow us to unleash our Skills at the Heavenly God Tier power, there are just some effects that we are not able to duplicate. For example, your Dragon Silencing Seal, Time Reversal etc etc…”

Zhou Weiqing grinned and said: “Teacher, didn’t you say you have no more Stored Skills? Does it mean you really didn’t Skill Store any Heavenly God Tier Skills?”

Long Shiya gave a humph and said: “Theory! Don’t you know what theory means? My meaning is that once you master this Six Ultimate Skill Manipulation Arts, in theory you do not need to Skill Store anymore.” Zhou Weiqing said fawningly: “I understand, I understand. Teacher, you have truly opened my eyes. When I get back from the Ten Thousand Beast Heavens, I will start learning.

Long Shiya asked curiously: “Why are you going to the Ten Thousand Beast Heavens?”

Zhou Weiqing said: “I’m going to catch some Heavenly Beasts. Err… it’s kind of a long story, but here it goes…” He went on to speak of his background, and the fall of the Heavenly Bow Empire, how he had ran off to the ZhongTian Empire to seek an opportunity and build up towards reviving his Empire, and everything up until now in detail.

Originally, he did not know anything about Long Shiya besides him being a Heavenly Emperor Stage powerhouse, and was slightly reluctant to become his disciple. However, now that he had witnessed the Six Ultimate Skill Manipulation Arts, he had been fully convinced. If he could go back to the past, he would unhesitatingly sincerely beg to become Long Shiya’s disciple, and not the act that it had been. Furthermore, Long Shiya also had the Darkness Attribute… With his cultivation level, it would not be too difﬁcult to release his father from that Darkness Consolidated Fate Denying Seal. If his new master was willing to help, there was deﬁnitely great hope for the Heavenly Bow Empire. When Long Shiya heard Zhou Weiqing’s words, his face grew serious. “Little Fatty, do you know why I did not take any action all the time you faced Han Tianyou, and even all the way up until he left before I even showed myself to you?”

Zhou Weiqing blinked and said: “Is it because you were trying to test me out?”

Long Shiya shook his head and said: “Not exactly. Your abilities did indeed interest me greatly. However, the Snow Deer Tribe has some connection to me, and with this old man here, and that Han Tianyou actually dared to kill some Snow Deer Tribesmen… normally with my temper he would not have lived to walk out of here. The reason I let him go was because of you.”

The main reason why I did not kill Han Tianyou was because of it is a rare but great opportunity to put you through the hard school of adversity. The growth of any Jewel Master is a long process, a complicated one. However, one thing is certain… the greater the pressure and stress, the faster the cultivation. Well, that or death. Such a test, or a tempering, is extremely valuable to you. That is the real reason why I did not kill him or capture him, to leave you with a latent enemy. Without pressure, where would your motivation be? As such, in terms of cultivation and training, I will give you my all in helping you, guiding you, training you, and making sure you are in the right direction. However, in terms of your own business, you will have to do it on your own, to solve your own problems. Otherwise, if I help you solve everything, what motivation do you have to work hard and cultivate? As such, do not think that I will help you save your family directly, or to revive your Empire. That is deﬁnitely not possible, and you need to be clear

about that.”

Zhou Weiqing gave a sad look and said: “Master, you don’t have to be so ruthless right…”

Long Shiya gave a humph and said: “Little brat, this is for your own sake. Alright, enough nonsense, who asked you to go to what rubbish Ten Thousand Beast Heavens? You just stay here and learn and cultivate with this old man. As for those Heavenly Cores you need, you can just pick them out from here. Those things are like ordinary rocks to me.”

As he said that, Long Shiya threw a cloth sack at Zhou Weiqing.

Zhou Weiqing caught it reﬂexively, and when he extended his Heavenly Energy to check within, he was so startled he almost dropped it. He had never seen, or even heard of, such a terrifying Spatial Object. In this cloth sack, it held a Spatial Dimension of more than ten thousand square metres! That was a size almost unheard of! More importantly, the entirety of the Spatial Sack was ﬁlled with heaps and heaps of all kinds of objects. Of

which a large portion were Heavenly Cores, stacked like mere

grains in a granary in mounds and mounds of them. From just a single look, he could not even count how many there were.

A faint smile crossed Zhou Weiqing’s lips. This Large Fatty teacher of his might say that he would not help him, but in truth, would he really not help?

Chapter 142 Hate Sky No Handle, Hate Ground No Handle!

All of a sudden, Large Fatty Long’s entire body shuddered, the fats rippling, as if he had abruptly thought of something. He quickly said to Zhou Weiqing: “Little Fatty, what are your Consolidated Equipment? Don’t tell me that you have already Consolidated all four?”

Zhou Weiqing nodded and said: “Yes, I have already Consolidated all four!”

Upon hearing that, Long Shiya furrowed his brow, saying solemnly: “Release them one by one for me to see.”

Zhou Weiqing nodded. In the previous ﬁght against the Han Tianyou, he had only released his Overlord Bow as he had not got any chance to ﬁght in close combat. Furthermore, even if he released his Legendary Hammers or Yin Yang Giant Spirit Palms, it would not create any extra opportunities against a Heavenly King Stage powerhouse. As such, he had chosen wisely to strike from a distance in a surprise attack. The facts had proven itself that his choice was indeed correct, making use of the fact that he had been underestimated and managing to wound Han Tianyou severely. A ﬂash of white, and the Overlord Bow appeared in Zhou Weiqing’s grasp.

Long Shiya’s eyes ﬂashed as he focused on the Overlord Bow, standing in front of Zhou Weiqing as he studied the weapon carefully with his brow furrowed. Finally, he said: “Alright, we can make do with this. A Grandmaster Consolidated Bow, but at least there’s two Sockets added onto it. It’ll barely do.”

Hearing his words, Zhou Weiqing felt a slight shock in his heart. This teacher of his had some great eyes indeed! After all, he knew Long Shiya did not have the Spatial Attribute; that was to say he was deﬁnitely not a Consolidating Equipment Master. Under such a circumstance, just by looking at the Overlord Bow, he could actually tell that this three-socketed Overlord Bow was not a Zong Stage Consolidated Equipment, but a Grandmaster one. Such vision was truly worthy of his rank of Heavenly Emperor Stage.

“What effect does this Consolidated Bow of yours have imbued within?” Long Shiya asked.

Zhou Weiqing replied: “An explosive effect, and some strength increase. Basically, within a thousand metres, I have absolute conﬁdence of my accuracy. In terms of archery skills, I have absolute conﬁdence and faith in my abilities.” Long Shiya nodded. He did not doubt that at all; after all, he had witnessed with his own eyes how Zhou Weiqing had used the Seven Stars Accompanying the Moon Archery Skill against Han Tianyou, and that had given even him a shock. That was not just a simple releasing of various Skills, but the intricacies of archery skills had even surprised him, or perhaps even shock.

“Increased strength and an explosive effect, complementing your Strength Physical Jewels, that is not too bad. It is deﬁnitely top quality amongst all Grandmaster Consolidated Equipment. Alas, no matter what, it is still a mere Grandmaster Consolidated Equipment… even if it were Zong Stage, that would still be better… Sigh…”

After a slight sigh, Long Shiya lapsed into silent thought. After a while, he said: “Worst come to worse, we can wash out this Consolidated Equipment of yours.”

“Wash out? What do you mean?” Zhou Weiqing looked at Long Shiya curiously, not understanding what he was saying.

Long Shiya explained: “Wash out means totally wiping it out from your Physical Jewels, before Consolidating another set of Equipment.” Zhou Weiqing said in surprise: “Such a thing is possible?”

Long Shiya said proudly: “Of course, don’t you know why when we reach ten Jewels and above, the rank name starts with Heavenly?”

Zhou Weiqing shook his head, bewildered.

Long Shiya said: “That is because after the ten Jeweled cultivation level, any further progress is truly a path against the heavens. As such, when one is at the maximum level of the Nine-Jeweled stage, attempting to break through the ten Jeweled stage, that is a major bottleneck point. Once you can breakthrough it, you will reach a whole different level. However, from that point onwards, every step forward is unbelievably difﬁcult. Against the heavens, hence the name Heavenly. Ten Jewels as Heavenly King, Eleven Jewels as Heavenly Emperor, and Twelve Jewels as Heavenly God. If one can actually break through the Twelve Jeweled point, it is tantamount to being a true god, with everything within your grasp.”

“From the Heavenly King Stage onwards, the Heavenly Energy cultivation has reached the Heavenly Dao Stage, also known as the Ways of Heavens. To master the Ways of Heavens, one can just imagine how tough that is. Just like all the previous stages, the Heavenly Dao Stage also consists of twelve levels, and each Jewel is still Four levels. However, at this point, there is a more ﬁner or precise classiﬁcation. Each Heavenly Stage is split into the four levels corresponding to their Heavenly Energy level, Low Level, Mid Level, High Level

and Max Level. For example, your teacher, I, my Heavenly Energy cultivation stage is at the forty fourth stage, the Max Level of the Heavenly Emperor Stage. One more stage would mean I can reach the Low Level Heavenly God Tier. Alas, just that one last stage is as difﬁcult as ascending the heavens… I

have worked hard and strived for over forty years and I still

have not succeeded. Perhaps, I will not have any chance to reach that stage in my lifetime.”

Zhou Weiqing asked curiously: “What does that have to do with washing out Consolidated Equipment?”

Long Shiya glared at him and said: “How can there be no connection? Since the Heavenly Stage cultivation level is already ﬁghting against the heavens, in that case, how can we not be able to accomplish things that defy nature? Washing out Consolidated Equipment is extremely difﬁcult, and it can only be done with the help of those Heavenly Stage powerhouses. Of course, some unique Consolidating Equipment Scrolls are the main ingredients to do so.” Listening to Long Shiya’s words, Zhou Weiqing suddenly remembered back at the Heaven’s Expanse Palace where Shangguan Bing’er was going to erase her Stored Skills. In such a case, it was likely that she was also erasing her Consolidated Equipment to swap them out at the same time.

Long Shiya continued: “Well, in any case, we will probably want to change this Consolidated Bow of yours in the future. With your archery skills, if given a complementary powerful God Tier Consolidated Bow, that would bring your combat prowess up several notches. If it’s part of a Legendary Set, that would be even better. Alright, let’s see your other Consolidated Equipment.”

Zhou Weiqing agreed, and in the next moment, the familiar dark gold light shone forth before Long Shiya’s surprised eyes. The twin Legendary Dual God Strength Hammers appeared, the massive hammer heads giving even Long Shiya a large surprise.

The outward appearance of these legendary hammers were indeed extremely scary, but though they seemed like a pair, it was actually only a single Consolidated Equipment. One real, one fake, it was indeed a work of art, almost a miracle in itself. Looking at this pair of hammers in Zhou Weiqing’s hands, Long Shiya was truly surprised: “A God Tier Consolidated Equipment! You little brat, you actually have such good stuff! Hahaha, that’s great, we are truly a pair of master and disciple indeed. This is truly fate! Those not of the same family won’t

end up in the same family indeed! Look!”

As he said that, Long Shiya raised his hands, and the dark gold light ﬂashed out and a pair of hammers also appeared in Long Shiya’s hands.

However, when compared to the massive hammers in Zhou Weiqing’s hands, the pair in Long Shiya’s hands were much smaller, about half the size of Zhou Weiqing’s. The pair were both bright silver in colour, and from the appearance of an octagon plum blossom.

Besides the full silver body, the hammers shimmered with six colours, resplendent and ﬁne. Though they were much smaller than Zhou Weiqing’s hammers, their presence and power was no lesser.

Zhou Weiqing was a Consolidating Equipment Master, and his knowledge and theory regarding Consolidating Equipment were deﬁnitely much greater than that of Stored Skills. As soon as he saw the pair of hammers of Long Shiya’s, a surprised look crossed his face.

“Master, why is your God Tier Consolidated Equipment not dark gold?” In Zhou Weiqing’s memory, all God Tier Consolidated Equipment were dark gold in colour, yet the pair of hammers in Long Shiya’s hands were a pure silver in colour. This day was indeed one that was full of surprises for the youth.

Long Shiya grinned and said: “Heh, there is nothing surprising about that. There is only one possibility for God Tier Consolidated Equipment to not be dark gold in colour, and that is a completed Legendary Set. Once a Legendary Set is complete with all its pieces, they will resume their original colours. Also, the colours will be inﬂuenced by the Heavenly Jewel Master’s personal attributes and cultivation level. This Legendary Set of mine is originally silver in colour, and with my own six attributes, it ended up looking like this. How about it, doesn’t it look suave?”

After asking the last question, his face turned a little gloomy, and he muttered to himself: “Both are hammers, why are yours so huge and mine so tiny. I am the Large Fatty, and you are the Little Fatty, yet our hammers are in reverse. That isn’t fair at all, not fair at all.” Zhou Weiqing grinned and said: “Master, there isn’t anything unfair about that. Although these hammers of mine might seem huge, in truth, the actual volume is the same as your hammers. Look.” As he said that, he struck out with the smiling-faced hammer in his left hand towards Long Shiya.

Subconsciously, Long Shiya lifted the hammer in his left hand to receive the blow. With Zhou Weiqing’s cultivation level, even if he lay down and let Zhou Weiqing strike at him with all his might, his protective Heavenly Energy aura would not even be broken.

As the hammers intersected, a strange sight occurred. The smiling-face hammer in Zhou Weiqing’s left hand actually passed right through the octagon plum blossom hammer, ﬂashing in a bright light with only a slight reverberation.

Although Long Shiya was a Heavenly Emperor Stage powerhouse, just with his eyes alone he had not been able to see the truth of these Legendary Hammers. After all, they were God Tier Consolidated Equipment, far from the Overlord Bow.

“Ehh? Interesting, very interesting.” A surprised look crossed Long Shiya’s eyes as he stared at Zhou Weiqing’s hammers with great interest. Zhou Weiqing explained: “These pair of Legendary Hammers are actually one real, one illusory. The smiling-face hammer is illusory, crying-face one is real, and with them, I have tricked many enemies who were stronger than I were. Heh heh.”

Long Shiya scolded him laughingly: “You little brat, you sure are cunningly obscene, even your weapons are so disgusting. Well, this pair of hammers are great, no need to wash this one out. Later, we can wash out that Overlord Bow of yours, as well as your other two, that should be enough for you to wear a Legendary Set.”

Zhou Weiqing started. “Master, you are giving me an entire Legendary Set?”

Long Shiya gave a humph and said: “Don’t think that only the ﬁve Great Saint Lands has a monopoly on that, we do have a set of our own. Haven’t you seen this pair of hammers that your teacher has? This is the ﬁrst piece of my Legendary Set. I have an old friend that is a God Tier Consolidating Equipment Master, and this Legendary Set of mine was crafted by him personally. It should not be a big problem for him to create another Set. Oh… right… if you are using the same set as I am, then you’ll probably have to erase your set of hammers as well. It would be pointless to have two types of hammers as your weapons, a pointless duplicate. Alas, what a shame, a waste of such a fun pair of hammers.”

Zhou Weiqing asked tentatively: “Master, how many pieces does your Legendary Set have?” Long Shiya said with a pleased expression: “Nine pieces, what about that? You’ve never heard of something like this right? Legendary Sets are deﬁnitely a must for powerhouses to maximise their strength. This ‘Hate Sky No Handle’ Legendary Set of mine might only be nine pieces, but it will not lose to some of those Legendary Sets with ten pieces. In the ﬁrst place, Legendary Sets with ten pieces are extremely rare, like the the hair of a phoenix and the horns of the qilin. Only the Heaven’s Expanse Palace’s Boundless Inﬁnitum Set and the God Vanquishing Heavenly Spirit Set are some of the few known ones.”

As soon as Long Shiya mentioned the name of his Legendary Set, Zhou Weiqing was stunned. ‘Hate Sky No Handle’? Why was that name so similar to his own Legendary Set?! “Hate Sky No Handle, Hate Ground No Handle” that was an actual phrase right?

Long Shiya thought that Zhou Weiqing had been stunned from the sudden happiness of the situation, and he clapped his shoulder, saying: “Your Father, I, has not married, and without any children. All I have is you, my only disciple. What is mine will also be yours in the future.” “No, no.” Zhou Weiqing said hurriedly. Agitatedly, he looked towards Long Shiya and said: “Master, you said your Legendary Set is called the ‘Hate Sky No Handle’ Legendary Set? That is to say, your Physical Jewels are also the Strength Attribute?

Long Shiya nodded and said: “Of course. This ‘Hate Sky No Handle’ Legendary Set is the most suitable for Strength Attribute Heavenly Jewel Masters amongst all the Legendary Sets. Have you heard of it before?”

Zhou Weiqing shook his head and said: “Teacher, look.”

As he said that, he lifted his arms, hammers still in hand. Another two bursts of dark-gold light sprang forth, and the Yin Yang Giant Spirit Palm along with the corresponding protective bracers appeared in a burst of dark gold light, covering his arms and hands.

The Yin Yang Giant Spirit Palms combined with the Legendary Hammers deﬁnitely gave Zhou Weiqing a more imposing presence, and even his Heavenly Energy reverberations seemed a lot stronger.

“You actually have two more God Tier Consolidated Equipment?! You little brat, you are truly born under a lucky star!” From Zhou Weiqing’s previous narration of his background and cultivation process, Long Shiya knew that this little rascal was just like himself, a Heavenly Jewel Master who had trained by himself. A self-trained Heavenly Jewel Master, before the age of eighteen, yet he already had three God Tier Consolidated Equipment, and with so many powerful Stored Skills to boot, that was almost a miracle in itself. No, even a miracle was not sufﬁcient to describe it. Even though this little brat in front of him was his own disciple, Long Shiya almost felt jealous of him. After all, in the past when he was cultivating, he had walked the wrong path so many times, spent so much time, cost and effort before he ﬁnally gained his ﬁrst God Tier Consolidated Equipment.

Zhou Weiqing looked to Long Shiya, a look of marveling disbelief in his eyes. “Master, these three God Tier Consolidated Equipment of mine are actually part of a Legendary Set as well. Its name is the ‘Hate Ground No Handle’ Legendary Set. This… could it be… it has some sort of connection with your ‘Hate Sky No Handle’?! The names cannot be simply a coincidence!”

“‘Hate Ground No Handle’ Legendary Set?” Long Shiya repeated the name, and the next instant, his entire body shuddered as a look of stunned disbelief ﬁlled his eyes, and he grabbed onto Zhou Weiqing’s shoulders. “What did you say?! You said your Legendary Set is called the ‘Hate Ground No Handle’? What… how could this be possible? You actually own the ‘Hate Ground No Handle’ Legendary Set?!”

By this point, it was clear that Long Shiya actually knew about the ‘Hate Ground No Handle’ Legendary Set. At that moment, he was even more agitated than Zhou Weiqing, and he was almost incoherent in his rambling.

Zhou Weiqing nodded and said: “Yes, this is exactly the ‘Hate Ground No Handle’ Legendary Set, the greatest Legendary Set that the forebears of my Legacy of Strength Sect had designed.

“Your Legacy of Strength Sect? What connection do you have with the Legacy of Strength Sect?” Long Shiya was after all at a high cultivation level, and after a moment of shock, he quickly recovered and calmed down. Still, his ﬁxated ﬁery gaze on Zhou Weiqing was ﬁlled with excitement and agitation.

Zhou Weiqing said: “Yes! I forgot to tell you, your great disciple is also a Consolidating Equipment Master. Although I am still only a High Level Consolidating Equipment Master, but my training comes from the Legacy of Strength Sect. This ‘Hate Ground No Handle’ Legendary Set has been handed down from my teacher. A full set of ten pieces, one more than your ‘Hate Sky No Handle’ Legendary Set!” Long Shiya stared dully at Zhou Weiqing for a moment, before muttering: “One can wear out iron shoes in fruitless searching,and yet by a lucky chance just ﬁnd the exact thing without even looking for it. I just managed to gain a disciple, and who knew that it would actually also mean the completion of my greatest wish. Good. Good. Very good! Hahahahaha, this is just too great!”

Long Shiya started laughing heartily, his body of fats jiggling around along. His booming laughter was so loud that it felt as if the tent they were in would be sent ﬂying away.

“What a ‘Hate Ground No Handle’ Legendary Set indeed. Little Fatty, do you know the origin of your ‘Hate Ground No Handle’ Legendary Set?” At last, Long Shiya stopped laughing, looking back towards Zhou Weiqing and asking in a serious tone.

Zhou Weiqing nodded and said: “Of course I do! This ‘Hate Ground No Handle’ Legendary Set is our Legacy of Strength Sect’s greatest legacy. Allegedly, one of the forebears created this with all his effort, and on the day that he completed the designs, he was too exhausted that he vomited blood and perished. As such, though this ‘Hate Ground No Handle’ Legendary Set had been passed down, it has never actually been created before.” Upon hearing his words, Long Shiya burst out laughing. “You call that knowing the origin? What do you know! All of what you said is barely the tip of the iceberg. In fact, there is a grand legend behind this Legendary Set. Very well, let your teacher tell you about it… Hate Sky No Handle, Hate Ground No Handle, such a series of overpoweringly domineering names! They are indeed both from the Legacy of Strength; however, they were created in different generations.”

“In the Consolidating Equipment Master domain, the most magniﬁcent and glorious era of their Consolidating Equipment Masters was actually many years ago. At that time, the number of Heavenly Jewel Masters were several dozen times more than current day, and there was no lack of Consolidating Equipment Masters as well. Amongst them, there were several powerful sects, including the Legacy of Strength Sect. At that point, that current Sect Leader of the Legacy of Strength and a group of Elders worked together to create the ‘Hate Sky No Handle’ Legendary Set, and with that, forged the name of the Legacy of Strength in the Consolidating Equipment Master Realm. With this ‘Hate Sky No Handle’ Legendary Set, the entire Legacy of Strength reached a peak they had never risen to before, earning the respect of Consolidating Equipment Masters and Heavenly Jewel Masters of that time. Of course, at that time, the Heaven’s Expanse Palace’s God Vanquishing Heavenly Spirit Set or Boundless Inﬁnitum Set did not yet exist. It could be said that the ‘Hate Sky No Handle’ Legendary Set was indeed the ﬁrst of its kind, the forefather of all the greatest Legendary Sets. Its power sent all the Strength Attribute Heavenly Jewel Masters clamouring crazily to get it.”

“However, after several generations, the Legacy of Strength had passed its zenith, and was starting to be on the wane. At their pinnacle, they had at least a dozen God Tier Consolidating Equipment Masters, but after all that time, the number of God Tier Consolidating Equipment Masters started dropping. About six or seven generations later, only the current Sect Leader was a God Tier Consolidating Equipment Master. Even so, with the ‘Hate Sky No Handle’ Legendary Set, the Legacy of Strength was still considered one of the top in the Consolidating Equipment Master world. Even though there were starting to be other competitors starting to create their own Legendary Sets, no one could dare say that theirs were stronger than the ‘Hate Sky No Handle’. In any case, just in that generation where the Legacy of Strength was worried about carrying on their legacy, two young genius talents appeared. One of them was the daughter of the current Sect Leader. She was absolutely beautiful, and as daughter to the Sect Leader, she was taught all the secrets from a young age. At a mere young nineteen years of age, she had already become a Zong Stage Consolidating Equipment Master, starting to attempt to create the ‘Hate Sky No Handle’ Set. At that point, everyone thought that the Legacy of Strength was coming back into their own.” “Besides this young lady genius Consolidating Equipment Master, there was another young talent. A man, though his age was older than hers. When he joined the Legacy of Strength, he was already twenty ﬁve years old. However, his age did not affect his talent in creating Consolidating Equipment Scrolls. Within three years of his joining, he had mastered every single skill of the Legacy of Strength, with the exception of the core and most valuable ‘Hate Sky No Handle’, which was highly restricted.”

“One day, the young lady had just completed the ﬁrst piece of the ‘Hate Sky No Handle’, but had met into trouble when attempting the second, lost in thought in thinking about it. She had been heading back to ask her father from her closed door cultivation, but enroute she literally bumped into that young man. At that moment, the Scrolls she had just completed dropped to the ground, that is the octagon plum blossom hammers you saw I was using just now. This was also the ﬁrst time the young pair had met. When the young man saw the Scroll she had dropped, he was delighted, and subconsciously picked it up examining it, lost in its brilliance. Naturally, the young lady was enraged, snatching it back from him, and the two got into an argument. In the midst of their angry words, the young man unknowingly said a line that suddenly sparked a light bulb in the young lady’s head, suddenly clearing up the bottleneck that she had been stuck in for the second piece. All of her sudden, her anger was lost, and the pair ﬁnally realised they were both of the Legacy of Strength. As such, they started discussing the ‘Hate Sky No Handle’ Set together.”

As he spoke up to this point, Long Shiya paused, a hint of sorrow entering his eyes. “The two were all genius talents who were lost in their research, discussing this Legendary Set and its brilliance, so much so that they forgot their respective status. The young lady also forgot the importance of the Set to the Sect, as it was restricted from ordinary disciples.”

“The two were united in mind and in harmony, and slowly a budding love grew between them. From that day onwards, the young lady no longer went into closed door cultivation to create the Scrolls like she used to. Instead, when she met any problems with the ‘Hate Sky No Handle’ Set, she would look for him to discuss and work together. As the time passed, they managed to complete an entire Set of the Legacy Set. At that point, she had ascended to become a God Tier Consolidating Equipment Master, and while he was still a Zong Stage Consolidating Equipment Master, he was not far from ascending as well. From the time they had ﬁrst met until this point, it had been eight years. Eight full long years… and in completing their shared goal together, the love between them had ﬂourished.” “The young lady brought the completed Set to her father, the Sect Leader, and also told him about the relationship between her and the young man, not holding anything back. She had been immersed in the Consolidating Equipment world since a young age, with research and creation being all of her life, and she was not familiar with the worldly ways of mankind. Alas, she had never expected that as soon as she told her father about the two of them, he ﬂew into a rage, scolding her angrily, telling her that she had to break up with that young man.”

Indeed, the two phrases (恨天⽆把、恨地⽆环) combined is an actual saying to denote a person of immense strength

Literal translation, basically as it suggests, ﬁnding something by luck when not looking, though he has already spent tons of time previously looking for it with all his might “The young lady did not understand why her father was in such a rage, and they parted unhappily. Alas, by the time she went to look for the young man once more, she happened to see that her father had caught him, just about to kill him. In the ﬁrst place, as the Sect Leader of the Legacy of Strength, her father was afraid that the ‘Hate Sky No Handle’ Legendary Set would be leaked out, and he was prepared to kill the young man to prevent any such possibility from happening. To any Sect, a Legendary Set Design was of utmost importance, let alone one like the ‘Hate Sky No Handle’, and it would normally only be passed down to Sect leaders. He had long viewed his daughter as his future successor, and thus had passed it down to her. However, for the design to be seen by this young man who had joined their Legacy of Strength at such a halfway point, that was a huge problem. For the sake of the Sect, he had no choice but to steel his heart and kill him.”

“As a God Tier Consolidating Equipment Master, without a doubt he was also a powerful Heavenly Jewel Master. How could the young man be a match for him? Just as he was about to perish, the young lady suddenly sprang out, using her body to block her father’s ﬁnal blow. At that instant, both the young man and her father were stunned. None of them had expected that this young lady who had spent all her life with Consolidating Equipment Scrolls would have such a tough character, willing to sacriﬁce herself for her love… With her dying breath, she asked the two of them for two wishes, each for one of them. To her father, she asked for his forgiveness and for him not to hurt the young man, that she trusted him

absolutely. As for the young man, her wish for him was not to take revenge against the Legacy of Strength.”

“With that, she passed away, and the two men were left there stunned silly, silent. A rising star in the Consolidating Equipment Master, one who had just reached the God Tier, had just passed away in such a wasteful fashion. To the Legacy of Strength, this was a massive blow. To both the father and the young man, this was like their world had collapsed.”

“The young man left, and he did not take anything with him, even the young lady’s corpse. However, before he left, he told the father that he would return one day. He promised that when he returned, he would bring a Legendary Set Design even greater than the ‘Hate Sky No Handle’, to prove that even without the ‘Hate Sky No Handle’ Legendary Set, he would still be a great Consolidating Equipment Master.”

“Just like that, he disappeared for thirty years, a whole thirty years. After thirty years, he was barely over sixty, but due to a complete mental and physical exhaustion, he looked like he was so old as if on his dying bed. When he ﬁnally returned to the Legacy of Strength, everything had changed. The father of the young lady had passed away a year after his daughter’s death. Having personally killed his beloved daughter, destroying the hopes of his Sect, no matter as a father or as a Sect Leader, that was too huge a blow for him to take. Without a God Tier Consolidating Equipment Master, the Legacy of Strength had started to fade away swiftly. By the time the young man returned, the entire Legacy of Strength was almost

desolate, without the grand lustre it once had.”

“Thirty years of hard work, yet at the end of it this was the ﬁnal result. The ‘young man’ was struck dumb. He went to the young lady’s grave, telling the last few remaining disciples of the Legacy of Strength to bury him together with her after he passed away. As soon as he left those words, he sat down on the ground before her grave, taking out a stack of Scrolls and burning them before her grave as incense.”

“His tears streamed down, slowly turning into blood tears, and all the while he was muttering to himself: Thirty years… I created this ten-piece ‘Hate Ground No Handle’ Legendary Set just to prove myself to your father… to prove that even without the ‘Hate Sky No Handle’ I could reach the ultimate pinnacle of Consolidating Equipment Masters. Alas, he had long since since left us. Perhaps, we have all been just too stubborn. I’m going to look for you now; with this ‘Hate Ground No Handle’ design as a sacriﬁcial offering, even your father will have to admit that I now have the qualiﬁcation to look for you. I will deﬁnitely ﬁnd you in the underworld… I still haven’t told you that I love you…”

Long Shiya ﬁnally stopped speaking at this point. His expression was calm, but there was a sorrowful melancholy in his eyes that could not be hidden.

Zhou Weiqing stood beside him, his eyes dull as he was fully immersed in this sorrowful tale of love and tragedy.

Lowering his head, grasping the twin Legendary Hammers in his hands tightly, Zhou Weiqing suddenly felt as if had a greater connection with this Legendary Set piece, with it melding together with him. In that moment, it was as if he could sense that sorrow and stubborn iron will within the hammers, and his spirit was ﬁlled with a strange feeling.

Long Shiya sighed and said: “I never expected that in my life I would be able to actually see this ‘Hate Ground No Handle’ Legendary Set. Perhaps, this is truly fate, this meeting between us was destined by this Hate Sky No Handle, Hate Ground No Handle… The wish I’ve had for years is ﬁnally fulﬁlled. Little Fatty, you have truly helped your teacher return a greatest favour!” Zhou Weiqing said: “Teacher, but my teacher in the Consolidating Equipment Master arts, Master Huyan did not tell me about this story!”

Long Shiya smiled faintly and said: “Yes, that is natural. At that point, the Legacy of Strength had split into two factions. One is the original faction, while the other was formed by that young genius who had created the ‘Hate Ground No Handle’ Legendary Set. Since you have the ‘Hate Ground No Handle’ Legendary Set, that proves that the day he burned the Scrolls as a sacriﬁcial offering for the young lady, he already knew that he was not going to return. He probably already left a set of designs to his own disciple. All these years, although the original faction of the Legacy of Strength was very weak, they still managed to barely carry on their legacy. They also knew about the ‘Hate Ground No Handle’ Legendary Set, and they have been looking for it all this while, hoping to ﬁnd either the designs or the actual Legendary Set. Well, anyway, from the fact that I have the ‘Hate Sky No Handle’ Set, you should know that I have a connection with the original faction of the Legacy of Strength…”

“In the past, when I ﬁrst met with that bro of mine, he was just like you now… just a High Level Consolidating Equipment Master. With my help, and with all the materials I provided, he was able to eventually become a God Tier Consolidating Equipment Master. He also helped me to Consolidated this entire Set of God Tier Legendary Set. His only request that if I could ﬁnd the designs, or owner of the ‘Hate Ground No Sky’ Legendary Set, I had to let him see it. All this years, I have owed him this, and now I can ﬁnally repay him with your help. Originally, I wanted to stay back and guide you in cultivating, but it looks like now I have to go and look for him ﬁrst. Who knows how delighted he will be! Hahaha!”

Zhou Weiqing said reluctantly: “Teacher, you are leaving already?”

Long Shiya nodded and said: “There’s no time to be lost. I have always been a person who hates delays, and I’ve always done things as quickly and vigorously as possible. Since I know where you will be heading, I will come look for you as soon as I have found him.”

As he said that, he took out a small little booklet from his bosom and passed it to Zhou Weiqing. “Keep this well… once you have memorised it, burn it all. Do not lose it or let anyone else read it, understood? This is my lifeblood, my ﬁnal masterpiece.”

From the fact that Long Shiya actually kept this little booklet with him, and not even in his Spatial Object, one could tell how much it meant to him. Zhou Weiqing quickly received it respectfully before looking at it. On top of the leather cover, there were a line of simple words: Six Ultimate Skill Manipulation Arts.

“Train well, and wait for me to come back… I will examine the fruits of your cultivation when I return. When training in this Six Ultimate Skill Manipulation Arts of mine, you should match it with the corresponding Heavenly Cores in order to get double the result. However, I hope that you do not try to rush into things. A good foundation is of utmost importance for Heavenly Jewel Masters. When I return, I will give you a more detailed guide.”

Zhou Weiqing agreed respectfully.

“Alright, then your teacher will leave now. I have to go look for my old friend as soon as possible.”

“Teacher, wait! This Spatial Sack of yours…” Zhou Weiqing quickly held out the Spatial Sack. He did not know how many Heavenly Cores were in there, but the sheer wealth held within was so immense that he thought even the Heaven’s Expanse Palace would not be able to resist. “You take it, they are of no use to me now anyway. However, do remember that wealth can bring your ruin by other’s greed… do not easily show this to anyone. I have lived in this cold north for over forty years, and these Heavenly Cores are not just from Heavenly Beasts I slew, a large portion are also from some insolent Heavenly Jewel Masters, so it looks like you can take advantage of it. Well, it will save you all the wasted time hunting for all the various Heavenly Cores you need. For Heavenly Jewel Masters, cultivating during the younger years when your vital energy is the highest is of utmost importance, as it is the time when cultivation is the easiest. Most of the Heavenly Jewel Masters who have reached the pinnacle have usually built a strong foundation from a young age. If you are able to break through the Heavenly King

Stage before the age of thirty, you will have the chance to break through the Heavenly God Stage… Otherwise, no matter how hard you labour in the future, you will be like me, stuck at the max level of the Heavenly Emperor Stage. I have sometimes regretted wasting my youth. Don’t be complacent just because you are only seventeen years old… in truth, a dozen years or so will pass in a blink of an eye for us Heavenly Jewel Masters. Also, when I am not by your side, try to restrain yourself and not provoke those Heavenly Stage powerhouses, they are not ones you can handle at your current level…”

As his last words fell, Zhou Weiqing could only sense a green light ﬂash before his eyes, and Long Shiya had already disappeared. Looking at the Spatial Sack in his hands, Zhou Weiqing still felt a sense of unreality. In just a short amount of time, barely an hour, he had gained a new Heavenly Emperor Stage teacher, and also gained a Spatial Sack that held unbelievable treasures. More so, he had learned of the ‘Hate Sky No Handle, Hate

Ground No Handle’ Legendary Sets and their origins, and his

own Legacy of Strength Sect. If there was a phrase to describe his current feelings, perhaps a mix of dazed confusion and miraculous was the most accurate.

By the time Zhou Weiqing returned to his companions, he found that they were all standing there in stunned silence. However, when they saw he had returned so quickly, their eyes all landed on him in unison.

“Where is the Six Ultimate Heavenly Emperor?” Shangguan Fei’er asked softly.

Zhou Weiqing smiled faintly and said: “Teacher had something else to do, so he left ﬁrst.” In front of Zhan LingTian, he did not want to explain too much.

Shangguan Fei’er said: “What do we do now then? Are we still going to the Ten Thousand Beast Heavens?” Zhou Weiqing said: “No, not anymore. Let’s head back to the Peerless Battalion.”

Chapter 143 Future Three Grand Armies!

“We’re not going anymore?” Shangguan Fei’er asked curiously.

Zhou Weiqing nodded, saying: “This time, we have barely gotten far and we have already run into so much troubles… it is clear that our luck this run is just too terrible. Well, the more important thing is that our power is just not sufﬁcient, I have been too impatient, reaching far above my means. Furthermore, now that the Blood Red Hell members have clashed with us, and we need to report this back to the Heaven’s Expanse Palace immediately, and let them decide on a solution. Bro Zhan, what do you think?”

Zhou Weiqing’s last question showed his respect for Zhan LingTian, and as soon as he heard that he felt much more comfortable. After the past few days, Zhou Weiqing had revised his opinion of the arrogant young man. Though that fellow was undoubtedly extremely proud and arrogant, and rather focused on wanting face, he was not a bad person. Just from how he was able to step forward bravely in a time of danger, that was enough to cover his other faults. Zhan LingTian nodded and said: “This time, the Blood Red Hell was the one who betrayed their own word, also disregarding the honour of our Heaven’s Expanse Palace. We do have to send word back about this as soon as possible. I agree with Weiqing, we should return to his Peerless Battalion before returning to the Heaven’s Expanse Palace immediately.”

Shangguan Fei’er pursed her lips in dissatisfaction before saying: “Fine… I originally wanted to go play around in the Ten Thousand Beast Heavens, you guys are so boring. The ﬁrst time we meet some problems, you just shrink back.”

Zhou Weiqing grinned and said: “Heh heh, that ‘shrink’ word, well done.”

Shangguan Fei’er blushed suddenly, giving him a punch on his shoulder. “You just barely escaped death, and you can’t control your mouth again. As a matter of fact, I have to say your luck is unbelievably good. Do you know who the Six Ultimate Heavenly Emperor is? He is one of the top Heavenly Jewel Masters in the entire world, even more senior than my father or big uncle. His power is truly unfathomable, and in the Heavenly Emperor Stage, he is unparalleled.”

Zhou Weiqing laughed heartily and said: “Well, I don’t know about that, but my teacher has already left. After some time, he will come to the Peerless Battalion to look for me.” He only explained things simply; after all this was the secret history of the Legacy of Strength, and he did not wish to spread it in detail.

Zhan LingTian said: “In that case, let us head back then.”

Right at that moment, eight Snow Deer Tribesmen walked forth, each carrying different sorts of delicious looking food. The one in front was an old man, looking to be about sixty to seventy years of age. He bowed down respectfully towards them and said: “Honoured guests, greetings to you. Since you are all friends of Great Ancestor, no matter what, you should have a nice meal here at our Snow Deer Tribe before leaving, otherwise Great Ancestor will blame us.”

After the events of the evening, the group were rather hungry. Furthermore, in such a biting weather, looking at the piping hot, delicious food, if they could just ignore it like that, they would not be human.

Besides Shangguan Fei’er, all of them were large and stout, especially Ma Qun and Crow, the two champion appetites were tantamount to that of three ordinary men. Looking at the delicious spread before them, deer milk, fried biscuits, bread, barbequed meats, it was a true feat that they managed to keep themselves from drooling.

Zhou Weiqing said: “Alright, thank you all so much. We will leave after eating then.” In the ﬁrst place, he had planned to discuss the possibility of purchasing some mounts from the Snow Deer Tribe, so this was a good opportunity for him. Since their previous tents had been totally destroyed by Han Tianyou, the Snow Deer Tribe led the group to another larger, more luxurious tent. It was lined with soft fur, causing the entire tent to be warm.

The Snow Deer Tribe food deﬁnitely was a unique local ﬂavour, although rather heavy, it was ﬁlled with a wild fragrance, and they all enjoyed the delicious cuisine. Even Zhan LingTian and Shangguan Fei’er who had eaten many delicious foods in their time couldn’t help but eat with gusto. Especially the slightly sweet deer milk was unique but delicious, increasing their appetite drastically while sending a comfortable warmth throughout their bodies in a nourishing way.

As they ate, they quickly learned that the old man was the current Tribe Leader of the Snow Deer Tribe. Although he was rather respectful and polite, the Heavenly Energy reverberations around his body was deﬁnitely not weak. The old man was very respectful towards Zhou Weiqing, and he clearly knew about the Six Ultimate Heavenly Emperor taking him as disciple.

“Elder, has your Snow Deer Tribe always lived here?” Zhou Weiqing asked the old man.

The old man answered with a hint of fear in his voice: “Please do not call me elder, my name is Yi Erhan, please call my name directly. In terms of seniority, you are one generation senior to myself. In the past, my grandfather served the Great Ancestor, and if not for him, our Snow Deer Tribe would have been wiped out long ago.”

“Oh. In that case, I’ll call you by your name directly, you can also call me by my name. I am Zhou Weiqing.” Zhou Weiqing was not overly polite, as he knew how important such seniority matters were. Modesty was a virtue, but overdoing it was just being false. Especially since he was now the Six Ultimate Heavenly Emperor’s disciple, and he could not let his teacher lose face.

“In that case, this old man will comply deferentially rather than decline courteously. Mr Zhou, we Snow Deer Tribe are nomadic in nature, though we rear these Snow Deer, the totems of our tribe. In truth, this camp here is just a mere portion of our entire Tribe. The main reason we stay here at this time is to seize the opportunity when there is no war to earn some money from the human traders who take the trading route, to aid our entire tribe in survival.”

“In the vast plains of the WanShou Empire, our Snow Deer Tribe is merely a tiny one, barely ten thousand strong. Compared to the larger tribes like the Wolfmen Tribe, Tigermen Tribe, or the Lionmen Tribe, we cannot compare at all. Furthermore, after so many years of wars, many of our tribesmen were drafted for war. Although our death toll was not high, our numbers have never been high, and several times we have came close to being wiped out. Luckily, our Great Ancestor asked the Heavenly Snow Mountain to spare us from drafting, and the great Heavenly Snow Mountain Lord personally allowed it. That gave our Snow Deer Tribe a chance to recuperate and rebuild up our strength, to do some small business in the borders.”

Hearing Yi Erhan’s words, Zhou Weiqing’s heart stirred. It looked like his teacher did have some connection with the Heavenly Snow Mountain after all, even knowing the Legendary Top Powerhouse in the entire mainland.

“I see, so that is why… Well, could I ask if your Snow Deer are available for sale?” Zhou Weiqing asked tentatively. Yi Erhan started at that question, before shaking his head with an apologetic look on his face. “I’m afraid not. Unfortunately, the Snow Deer are our totems, and they are the ones who have given us life and everything, how could we possibly trade them? The Snow Deer are our guardian deities,

and when we meet any enemies, our ﬁnest warriors will mount the Snow Deer to charge through their formations.”

“Ahh, I see. No problem.” Zhou Weiqing nodded his head with some disappointment. Of course, he would not force such a thing.

Looking at the disappointed look in Zhou Weiqing’s face, the Snow Deer Tribe Leader felt some fear. All this while, the Six Ultimate Heavenly Emperor had been their greatest benefactor, yet he had never asked them for anything. In truth, with Long Shiya’s power and status, besides providing him with food and comfort, they could not really offer him anything.

At this point, Long Shiya, who had always been alone, had ﬁnally managed to get a disciple, and he had ﬁnally a request. Wasn’t this the perfect opportunity to repay the Six Ultimate Heavenly Emperor and stay in his good books? “Mr Zhou, could I ask why you are looking to buy the Snow Deer?” Yi Erhan asked tentatively.

Zhou Weiqing laughed heartily and said: “I have a troop of soldiers at the other side of the border. Since I’ve heard so much about the strength, build and speed of your Snow Deer friends, I originally wanted to purchase some for my soldiers as mounts. They would be extremely useful in future battles.”

Yi Erhan furrowed his brow, silent. Selling the Snow Deer was naturally impossible, as it was the most important of their tribal laws. Furthermore, even if he agreed to the request, his own tribesmen would rebel against it.

In truth, Zhou Weiqing had not had much hopes that this would succeed, and he had only been trying his luck in asking. Seeing that Yi Erhan remained silent, he quickly headed back to the table to snatch more food to eat. Snatch was indeed the right word to use here, as in just the short period of time he had been speaking with Yi Erhan, the other members had been gorging on the food. If Zhou Weiqing had been any slower, it would have been likely he did not have anything left to eat.

Zhou Weiqing continued eating comfortably, enjoying himself. However, Yi Erhan was in a dilemma; after all, such a chance was indeed hard to come by, yet it was just too difﬁcult to accomplish.

After a few minutes of silence, it was as if he had suddenly set his resolve, and he abruptly looked up towards Zhou Weiqing and said: “Mr Zhou, as you said, our Snow Deer Tribe’s Snow Deers are indeed extremely powerful, even in a one versus one ﬁght, against the tiger or panther steeds, we still have conﬁdence to ﬁght with them. However, our Snow Deer can only be ridden by our Snow Deer Tribesmen, and even for us, we need to individually gain their approval and respect before we can do so, and to become our great Snow Deer Cavalry Warriors. How about this instead, if you have any requirements in future, you can send in a request. As long as the ﬁght is not against our WanShou Empire, I can lend you ﬁve hundred Snow Deer Cavalry Warriors. When the ﬁght is over, you can just let them come back.”

What? There was even such a good deal? As soon as Zhou Weiqing heard the offer, he was extremely delighted. Without even needing to train these soldiers and he would be able to gain a troop of ﬁve hundred powerful Snow Deer Cavalry Warriors? That was unbelievably great news!

Yi Erhan thought that Zhou Weiqing’s silence meant he thought it was too little, and he said with a slightly pained tone: “Mr Zhou, our entire tribe only consists about ten thousand in population, and only those ﬁnest warriors and elites will be able to become Snow Deer Cavalry Warriors. In our entire army, the Snow Deer Cavalry Warriors only number about a thousand, and we will need to keep some around to deter any possible enemy incursions. Sending out ﬁve hundred of them is already our absolute maximum.”

“Oh! I do not think it is too little at all, I am extremely happy with that.” Zhou Weiqing said hastily. “Tribe Leader Yi Erhan, thank you so much for that. Do not worry, even if I do need your help in the future, I will not use your Snow Deer Cavalry Warriors for nothing. I will pay a good fee as well as food, we’ll count it as I am hiring your Snow Deer Cavalry Warriors. How does that sound?”

Yi Erhan did not reject Zhou Weiqing’s suggestion. After all, the Snow Deer Tribe was a small tribe, and their Snow Deer Cavalry Warriors were highly sought after by many of the stronger tribes. If not for the fact that the Six Ultimate Heavenly Emperor had ascended the Heavenly Snow Mountain on their behalf, their Snow Deer Tribe might have been swallowed up by a larger tribe by now. Although none of the tribes would actually dare attack them, it was no easy task just surviving in their WanShou Empire and its harsh conditions. Since those powerful tribes were not able to swallow them, they would also naturally not give them any support. To Yi Erhan, maintaining the livelihoods of so many tribesmen was not an easy task. If they could exchange their services to Zhou Weiqing for food and pay, it would deﬁnitely be worth hiring out the ﬁve hundred Snow Deer Cavalry Warriors.

Finally, Zhou Weiqing and his group ﬁnished their meal and set off on their journey back comfortably. Before leaving, he received a Snow Deer Tribe plaque from Yi Erhan. In the future, when he needed the Snow Deer Cavalry Warriors, he could make use of this plaque to deploy the forces. At the same time, Yi Erhan also told him the other locations where the Snow Deer Tribe would camp in the other parts of the years. Of course, at this point in time, Zhou Weiqing did not know how lucky he was, or what these Snow Deer Cavalry Warriors actually signiﬁed. In fact, none of their party knew that amongst the cavalry soldiers of the WanShou Empire, in terms of individual and group ﬁghting capabilities, the Snow Deer Cavalry Warriors actually ranked fourth, behind only the Lionmen Tribe, Tigermen Tribe and Panthermen Tribe, the three largest tribes, also belonging to the Royal Guard. It was truly a miracle that such a small tribe like the Snow Deer Tribe could stay autonomous despite having such a powerful resource.

…

A return trip often felt much faster than when leaving, and before long they were about to reach the Peerless Battalion camp.

Zhan LingTian was still astride his Ghost Demon Horse, and he said to Zhou Weiqing: “I will not be returning with you all, I need to head back to the Heaven’s Expanse Palace to report all that has happened thus far. Fei’er, you return together with me.”

Shangguan Fei’er bit her lip softly, lowering her head as she said: “Big bro Zhan, you know how difﬁcult it is for me to actually run out to have fun, going back so quickly would be so boring. Let me stay a while more… Anyway, I have nothing else to do when I get back, cultivating anywhere is still the same right?” Zhan LingTian was no fool, and from the past events he could tell there was something on between Shangguan Fei’er and Zhou Weiqing, even if he wasn’t sure what it was exactly. Looking meaningfully at her, he said: “Fei’er, do not forget about Weiqing and Young Miss Bing’er. Well, it is up to you, I

do not have the authority to command you, but I trust that no matter what, you should have the restraint and propriety. However, I will not hide your presence here from the two Palace Masters, and whatever they decide I will not be able to help you.”

Upon hearing that Zhan LingTian would not forcefully bring her back, Shangguan Fei’er was overjoyed. She ignored the rest of his words, so what if her father and uncle knew where she was? They wouldn’t personally come down to get her, nor where they stuck in this borderlands forever. As the saying goes, the skies are high and wide, and the emperor is far away, worse come to worse they could just run away.

“Big Bro Zhan, you’re the best! Hehehe, good luck in chasing big sis!” She said happily.

Zhan LingTian ﬂushed slightly, then he nodded towards Zhou Weiqing and said: “In that case, I leave Fei’er to you, please take care of her. This trip north past the border has been a good experience, and I have learned much in it. Your archery and skills are not bad indeed. In the future, when your cultivation level is higher, let’s have a good ﬁght.”

Zhou Weiqing laughed heartily and said: “No no, I’m no match for that Light-Dark Divine Spear of yours. Bro Zhan, safe travels.”

A rare faint smile crossed Zhan LingTian’s lips, and with a nudge to his Ghost Demon Horse’s ﬂank, he sped off into the distance. He did not return this horse to Zhou Weiqing, its imposing build and power had given him a huge liking for it.

In truth, the reason why Zhan LingTian did not forcefully drag Shangguan Fei’er along had a slightly selﬁsh reason behind as well. In his heart, Zhou Weiqing already had Shangguan Bing’er, and now he had some unclear relations with Shangguan Fei’er as well; naturally he could no longer have anything with his beloved Xue’er. Furthermore, if Zhou Weiqing was entangled with the two Young Misses, how would the two Palace Masters look at him?

As a result, he would rather return by himself and get a scolding than do the ‘proper’ thing and bring Shangguan Fei’er back. No matter what, all humans would have some form of selﬁsh, or self serving motivations, especially when it came to matters of the heart, Zhan LingTian was willing to do this. After all, chasing Shangguan Xue’er was not an easy task! As the saying goes, all’s fair in love and war!

As they watched Zhan LingTian leave, Crow and Ma Qun also rode up closer to Zhou Weiqing, and Crow said: “Weiqing, hold up a bit before leaving, we have something to speak to you about ﬁrst.”

“En?” Zhou Weiqing looked at them with askance.

Lin TianAo stood at the other side of Zhou Weiqing, a faint knowing smile on his face. It was clear he either knew what was going on or had already expected what would happen.

Crow said: “Weiqing, Ma Qun and I will be leaving for a while, so we will part here instead of returning to the Peerless Battalion.”

A look of surprise crossed Zhou Weiqing’s face. “You two aren’t heading back too? Why not?” He was certain he had not done anything to slight or offend his two friends and companions. Crow glanced towards Ma Qun at her side, and she gave a rare blush before saying: “This silly devil has ﬁnally come to his senses, so we have to return to our tribes to settle things. Otherwise, the relationship between our tribes have become strained, and we do not want things to grow worse. After all,

our two tribes have always been extremely close, and we do not want to be the cause of a rift.”

Upon hearing that, Zhou Weiqing relaxed. “So that’s what it is. Alright then, but when you all go back, you better not get married there! After all, we all have to be guests at your marriage! Best thing is have the marriage ceremony at our Peerless Battalion, and we can all get together and enjoy!”

Crow ﬂushed a deeper red, but Ma Qun stuck his chest out proudly and said: “Of course, our marriage will deﬁnitely be at the Peerless Battalion, how can there be any question of that! Boss, we are all family, so I will not beat around the bush. Crow and I want to bring our tribes to join up with you.”

“Join up with me?” Zhou Weiqing started for a moment.

Even he could not comprehend that in such a short moment.

Ma Qun nodded and said: “Originally, we already had such a plan. However, at that time you did not yet have a set place of residence. No matter what, all we care about is you and your talents. Now that you have the Peerless Battalion, that will be a good place for all of us to settle down steadily. You treat those rufﬁans so well, let alone us family. Crow’s tribe is the Gold Crow Tribe, and I am of the Titan Tribe… both our tribes have always been good friends, but we are constantly facing the threat of survival. In the Fei Li Empire, they have always been trying to draft us into the army. However, our numbers have always been low… our state is similar to that of the Snow Deer Tribe, if we enter the army, we would soon be close to having our tribes destroyed.”

Zhou Weiqing said dubiously: “Wouldn’t joining up with me be the exact same thing? You know my current situation with my Empire and my goals in reviving the Heavenly Bow Empire, it will not be possible to avoid any ﬁghts! We are brothers, and I think it is best I state this out clearly beforehand. If you need me to provide any help, that is no problem, but to support to entire tribes for nothing, that might not be possible with my current status and capabilities. Therefore, if you are bringing your entire tribe to join up with me, it is still necessary to actually join the Peerless Battalion.”

Ma Qun laughed heartily and said: “Boss, you sure are honest, aren’t you afraid we renege on that? Our Titan Tribe and Crow’s Gold Crow Tribe are all immensely powerful warriors.” Zhou Weiqing shook his head and said: “It is because we are brothers, I believe it is best to make things clear from the start. If you bring your entire tribe here and regret it in the future, then things would have already advanced to such a point that it is too late.”

Ma Qun gave him a thumbs up before saying: “Well, we have indeed not misjudged you. Do not worry, since we have decided to bring our tribesmen to join up with you, we will not avoid ﬁghting. After all, both our tribesmen are all natural powerful warriors. However, how could you be compared to the Fei Li Empire? They want to make use of us, not truly caring for us, using us on the frontlines against the toughest enemies to pit our lives against the WanShou Empire. I know that you will not do that, even those Peerless Battalion rufﬁans you are training them as archers, teaching them everyday about the importance of their own lives. Clearly, following you is deﬁnitely not a disadvantage to us all, and we will have no worry about food and pay. We have already thought this through… for the sake of the future of our tribes, we are betting all our lives on you. Originally, we wanted to speak to you about this before we set off, but that Zhan LingTian was around us all the time, so we kept on delaying it. Now that we have all returned from the WanShou Empire, both Crow and I have decided to go home and explain things out, to persuade our tribes to join up with you. How does that sound?” Naturally, how could Zhou Weiqing say no to such a good deal? Zhou Weiqing did not attempt to hide his excitement, beaming happily as he said: “Good, very good, that is indeed great! Do not worry, your tribe is also my tribe, my family, hahaha!” He could not be blamed for being so excited. After all, besides the Titan Tribe which Zhou Weiqing had not personally experienced, he was all too familiar with Crow’s strength and power. Her cultivation level aside, just the six hundred jin weight, steel skin and bones, and that terrifying strength, all of that were incomparable indeed.

If the Titan Tribe and Gold Crow Tribesmen all had statures like Ma Qun and Crow, they would undoubtedly be the ﬁnest heavy infantry units. Of course, Zhou Weiqing would not allow them to waste their lives easily on the battleﬁeld. In that instant, his mind had raced through all the various possibilities, and if he managed to gain the support of these two powerful tribes and they were as he imagined, he would deﬁnitely arm them to the teeth, to make each and every one of their warriors a moving fortress of death.

Crow smiled and said: “Alright, Ma Qun and I will take our leave now. I’m afraid that this time, we will be gone for quite a while; after all, it is a full migration of both our tribes. I estimate that it will take us at least half a year, maybe up to a year. We will return to the Peerless Battalion to look for you, so Weiqing, try not to leave there within the next year or so alright.”

Zhou Weiqing said: “Wait a moment. Big bro, did you bring any money with you?” Zhou Weiqing turned to look at Lin TianAo.

Lin TianAo shook his head and said: “I only brought a small sum. After all, we were heading to the Ten Thousand Beast Heavens, and I didn’t see a need for much money. I passed most of it to Yun Li.”

Zhou Weiqing thought for a moment before he reached into his bosom. No one else knew what he was doing, but when he brought his hand back out, he held a hand full of Heavenly Cores.

“Take these with you and look for a safe place to slowly sell them for money to bring back to your tribes. You will need the funds to buy sufﬁcient carts and powerful horses, if possible Ghost Demon Horses or the like. After all, both your tribes people are large and with substantial weight. In this way, it will be easier to move everyone as well, and we can gather back as quickly as possible. These Heavenly Cores are a gift from me to your tribes.” An chinese proverb, basically in ancient times it was used to say that the lands are huge and no matter how powerful an emperor was, he could not fully control what happened in his lands around him As he said that, Zhou Weiqing had already shoved the handful of about a dozen or so Heavenly Cores into Ma Qun’s hands. He then reached into his bosom once more, grabbing out handful after handful… only after he had brought out about a hundred or so did he ﬁnally stop.

Ma Qun and Crow were not too familiar with Heavenly Cores, and they only felt like these Heavenly Cores were rather pretty. However, Shangguan Fei’er, mounted on her horse at the side, was totally stunned.

All the Heavenly Cores that Zhou Weiqing had taken out were at least from Zong Stage Heavenly Beasts, with some even from Heavenly King Stage Heavenly Beasts. More so, there were actually two huge ones that looked to be from Heavenly Beasts even stronger than that!

Each of these were considered priceless treasures! Since when had Zhou Weiqing become so rich? More importantly, amongst those Heavenly Cores, there were some which were their targets in entering the Ten Thousand Beast Heavens. “Wait, don’t rush off yet.” Shangguan Fei’er quickly stepped forward, quickly picking out the few Heavenly King Stage and higher Heavenly Cores.

“What are you doing?” Zhou Weiqing asked her curiously, and she glared at him exasperatedly, saying: “Are you trying to kill them? Do you know what is the worth of these Heavenly Cores? Those he has are already more than enough, at the very least several dozen million or even more than a hundred million gold coins. If they actually tried to sell the ones I took, that would be tantamount to suicide. Don’t you know an innocent man can get into trouble just by having too much wealth? Anyway, where did you get so many Heavenly Cores?”

Zhou Weiqing grinned and said: “Heh heh, do you still need to ask? Of course it’s from my teacher… ahh it feels so good to have a teacher! Hahaha, well you all can beneﬁt from that relation too.”

Hearing Zhou Weiqing’s words, Ma Qun quickly kept the Heavenly Cores, an expression of ‘I might as well take this’ on his face. He looked so ﬁne with his large majestic stature, even larger and honest looking than Zhou Weiqing, but that sly cunning in his heart was no less as well. Crow rolled her eyes at him for that, but she did not protest. In truth, what Zhou Weiqing had said was indeed true… it was just too great a feeling to have a teacher! Although he already had two other teachers, Mu En and Huyan Aobo, these two other teachers were not Heavenly Jewel Masters, and what they taught him had nothing to do with his Heavenly Jewel

Master cultivation.

Ever since Zhou Weiqing’s Heavenly Jewels had Awakened, it could be said that almost every step of his cultivation was from his own fumblings and experimentations. The Immortal Deity Technique, Consolidating Equipment, Skill Storing, even down to the usage of Skills, or the Demonic Change State or Devour Skills, all of that had been slowly built up after time, fumbling trial and error and also built up over countless actual combat and life and death situations, improving all this while in his formative years. However, he had never gone through an actual system of learning; in this, he could not compare to any of those members of Great Saint Lands.

Zhou Weiqing’s talent was undoubtedly outstanding, richly endowed in so many ways. Yet, it was this same unbelievable talent that also hid so many of his ﬂaws and deﬁciencies. For a self-learning Heavenly Jewel Master to stumble his way along by himself without any legacies or learnings, to actually develop his own style, one could just imagine how difﬁcult that would be! Although Zhou Weiqing had not manifested any problems up til now, but just like what Long Shiya had explained previously, as his cultivation level would grow, they would ultimately start plaguing him. Having seventy two Skills was at a point that that no ordinary Heavenly Jewel Masters could imagine, and if Zhou Weiqing really tried focusing on all of them, he would never be able to reach the ultimate stage of Heavenly Jewel Masters in his lifetime.

However, it was all different now with the Six Ultimate Heavenly Emperor Long Shiya as his teacher. A man who had already gone through all the fumbling stage and had formed his own style. A hundred years of sheer talent, painstaking labour and thought had given him the achievement he held today, and he was truly a man who knew how tough it was for a self-training Heavenly Jewel Master and the many twisted paths they might have to walk. Furthermore, just like Zhou Weiqing, he had six Attributes, and also the Legendary Set of the same lineage from the Legacy of Strength. Without a doubt, he was the best person in the entire world to teach Zhou Weiqing! Although he had not actually started teaching and guiding Zhou Weiqing, there was no question that once this ofﬁcially started, it would have major beneﬁts to the young Jewel Master.

In the faint glow, Zhou Weiqing smiled faintly and said: “Ma Qun, Crow, you two be careful. Just like what Fei’er said, do not reveal your wealth too easily. Every time when you sell these Heavenly Cores, don’t sell too many at once or at the same place, just a few should be ﬁne. As for the rest, you can give them to your elders for them to use, and also to give them some conﬁdence. I don’t need to say anything else, I believe that you both will be able to persuade your tribesmen, and I will be waiting for you here. If you two do not return, I will not leave here, so no matter what, even if you aren’t able to come back, do send me a letter.”

Ma Qun laughed heartily, thumping his own chest conﬁdently as he said: “Of course we will be back, I still want to continue learning from Big Bro Lin, and to continue on the path of my Assembly Set Shield. This is either make or break for us, even on a worse case scenario, Crow and I can elope and come look for you. Alright, let’s go.” After saying that, he turned his horse around, and both he and Crow headed towards the other direction. Both of them had the army rank plaque that Zhou Weiqing had given them, and it would not be a problem passing the lines. After all, it was a plaque from the Legion Commander Shen Ji, what possible problems could there be?

Shangguan Fei’er watched them leave, then she grabbed onto Zhou Weiqing’s arms, saying ferociously: “Little Fatty, come on, let me see what did you get from your teacher. No wonder you didn’t want to go to the Ten Thousand Beast Heavens anymore. Don’t tell me you already have enough Heavenly Core materials?” Zhou Weiqing grabbed the Spatial Sack from his bosom airily, pushing it at Shangguan Fei’er and said: “Look for yourself.”

Shangguan Fei’er looked curiously at the Spatial Sack before circulating her Heavenly Energy within to have a look. As soon as she did so, she was so shocked that she almost dropped the Spatial Sack.

Lin TianAo stood at the other side of Zhou Weiqing, silent but smiling. With his stable conﬁdent nature, he would always keep his own place as Zhou Weiqing’s Follower, despite their close relations. Zhou Weiqing had removed the Blood Rites – Seal of Darkness, but in his heart, that Seal would never be removed.

“This… this… … Little Fatty, the Six Ultimate Heavenly Emperor gave this all to you…?!” Shangguan Fei’er stuttered, totally losing her composure.

Zhou Weiqing nodded and said: “Yes, of course! If I had any of these of my own, would I bother planning to go to the Ten Thousand Beast Heavens with you at that time?” “Generous… so generous… I have never seen or heard of such a generous teacher. Weiqing, this time you are just too lucky! I can’t even begin to count how many Heavenly Cores there are with a look, with mounds and hills of them… Did your teacher rob the Heavenly Snow Mountain treasure troves? If you sell all these Heavenly Cores, you would get an astronomical sum of money… I don’t think I could estimate their value.”

Zhou Weiqing sighed lightly and said: “My teacher said that he would not help me do anything, and would only guide and teach me. His intention is that I accomplish everything by myself, and only by doing so can I grow well in the grindstone of life. However, although he said that, he has already helped me just too much. This Spatial Sack of Heavenly Cores alone has solved many of our problems. Anyway, I’ll pass you this to hold on for usage when we’re back at the Peerless Battalion. I will just need to take out a few to concentrate on cultivating what my teacher has taught me, and that will be my focus for now. You can take what is needed from the Spatial Sack to brew the medicine and help my Peerless Battalion brothers Awaken their Personal Power Jewels.”

“Our Peerless Battalion is not going the route of numbers, but the path of absolute elites. Only true elites who have been bathed in the ﬁres of war will be truly forged into a powerhouse, to constantly survive on the battleﬁeld. If Ma Qun and Crow return successfully with their tribe, and with the Snow Deer Cavalry Warriors and our own Peerless Battalion archers, this is already an impressive army covering all grounds. With just these few thousand men, I am conﬁdent in shaking the Bai Da Empire.”

As he spoke up to that point, a cold light ﬂashed in Zhou Weiqing’s eyes. Although they had not traveled to the Ten Thousand Beast Heavens as planned, his conﬁdence had already increased drastically. After all, he was no longer alone, and he now had the beginnings of his own group.

Very quickly, the three had returned to the Peerless Battalion. Just as he mentioned in his earlier plan, Zhou Weiqing took a small portion of Heavenly Cores and passed the others to Shangguan Fei’er. Besides those required for the medicine for Awakening Personal Power Jewels, she passed some of the less useful Heavenly Cores to Lin TianAo as a backup source of funds. If the Peerless Battalion had any unexpected need for a large sum of money, those could be used to garner the funds. After all, such high level Heavenly Cores were extremely expensive, no matter which Empire they were sold in.

…

One month later. Heaven’s Expanse Palace.

“Ridiculous! How could Fei’er just run off with Zhou Weiqing. No wonder we couldn’t ﬁnd that girl anywhere.” Shangguan Tianyue said angrily.

Shangguan Tianyang had already went back into closed door cultivation, and currently Shangguan Tianyue was in charge of the entire Heaven’s Expanse Palace.

Zhan LingTian knelt down respectfully on one knee in front of Shangguan Tianyue, but his expression was like a dried up well, with nary a ripple as he remained calm and impassive.

He had taken an entire month before returning to the Heaven’s Expanse Palace, and that was clearly far beyond what was necessary. In truth, he had done so on purpose. It was clear that he was in no rush to get back, or perhaps it could be said that he was doing it on purpose to buy time for Shangguan Fei’er.

Zhan Lingtian’s thinking was direct, he wanted to create more opportunities for Zhou Weiqing and Shangguan Fei’er, for their relationship to grow even closer. In that way, with Zhou Weiqing mixed up with both Shangguan Bing’er and Shangguan Fei’er, he would not have a chance with his own Xue’er.

Towards Zhou Weiqing, after this trip together across the northern border, Zhan LingTian had a much greater understanding towards him. Although he was not particularly handsome, he had a strange charisma about him that could draw everyone around him to him. Especially when they were all facing Han Tianyou and Zhou Weiqing managed to use his calm judgement and his glib tongue to talk them out of a dead corner, and eventually even becoming the disciple of the Six Ultimate Heavenly Emperor… All of that just combined to make him so much more mature, more powerful. Zhan LingTian could foresee that in the entire young generation across the whole lands, Zhou Weiqing would deﬁnitely be his greatest competitor, perhaps even someone that he could not compare to.

Although he no longer had any direct ill will towards Zhou Weiqing, he still did not want to give him a chance to interact with Shangguan Xue’er. After all, what if Shangguan Xue’er was like her two sisters and actually gained feelings for Zhou Weiqing after interacting with him? What would he do then?

Back in the present, Shangguan Tianyue’s expression was cloudy, almost sullen. In the shifting glow of the surrounding light, he was pacing around. This time, Shangguan Tianyang had entered close door cultivation once more in an attempt to break through the Heavenly God Tier. Although the chances of success were not high, there always existed that slim hope they clung on to.

Towards Zhou Weiqing, Shangguan Tianyue truly did not know what to think of the young man. However, his vision was much further than Zhan LingTian, and he had actually been waiting for all this time to seize a chance to bring Zhou Weiqing into the Heaven’s Expanse Palace.

Chapter 144 Good beginnings!

The potential problems that lurked beneath Zhou Weiqing’s impressive power were clear to the Six Ultimate Heavenly Emperor, naturally how could he and Shangguan Tianyang not be clear of it as well. However, they had their own status and position in mind, and were waiting for Zhou Weiqing to realise this on his own and look for them when he reached that bottleneck. At that point, they could easily bring that little rascal into the Heaven’s Expanse Palace, and Bing’er could marry him in a simple rational progression. With his outstanding talents and the Heaven’s Expanse Palace’s resources and guidance, the future him would become Shangguan Xue’er’s future right hand man, and this future generation would deﬁnitely be able to support the Heaven’s Expanse Palace to a far greater height.

Alas, Shangguan Tianyue had never expected that his second daughter would actually run off with that little brat as well. Her excuse was that she was keeping an eye on him and not allowing him to shift affections and abandon Bing’er… However, did keeping an eye require her to do so personally? Or to take so long? She had even refused to come back even when Zhan LingTian had asked her too…

As for the Blood Red Hell, on the contrary, Shangguan Tianyue was not worried about them. Before Zhan LingTian had even returned, he had already received news from the Blood Red Hell about what had happened. Regarding the matter, the Second Hell Master of the Blood Red Hell had actually came down to the Heaven’s Expanse Palace personally to apologize. Furthermore, he had brought along a gift of a Heavenly Emperor Stage Heavenly Beast as an offering to their continued friendship, and that was clearly a strong sign of good faith. More importantly, the result of the attack had been

that no loss or harm had come to the Heaven’s Expanse Palace, and thus it was easily resolved.

“LingTian, in your eyes, how did Fei’er treat Zhou Weiqing?” Shangguan Tianyue ﬁnally asked solemnly.

Zhan LingTian lowered his head and said: “It’s hard to say.” “Hard to say? Speak the truth!” Shangguan Tianyue raised

his voice slightly.

Zhan LingTian hesitated for a moment before saying: “Second Young Miss seems to be overly close to that Zhou Weiqing, and they do not seem like ordinary friends. Yet, they are not intimate in any way. As for what is the exact relationship between them, I do not know.” With the eyes of a Heavenly Jewel Master, it was an easy task to see whether a girl was still ‘whole’, and though Zhan LingTian was still a virgin, he could still easily see that. It was also the reason why he was willing to take his time to come back, not at all in a rush to report back. He was more than happy to have Zhou Weiqing and Shangguan Fei’er end up having intimate relations, and having Shangguan Tianyue angry with Zhou Weiqing.

At the same time, Zhan LingTian also hid a truth. He did not mention anything about the Six Ultimate Heavenly Emperor, as he did not want Zhou Weiqing to grow more important in Shangguan Tianyue’s eyes.

“Hmph!” Shangguan Tianyue gave an angry grunt. “That little brat, courting one of my daughters isn’t enough for him? Is he trying to chase Fei’er as well? Our Little Demon Girl Fei’er actually didn’t cause trouble for him, instead staying together with him? Hmph, that brat!”

Alas for Zhan LingTian, no matter how he listened in, he just felt that Shangguan Tianyue’s voice was rather weird… as if he wasn’t really that angry.

“Second Palace Master, should I go back again and bring Second Young Miss back?” Zhan LingTian asked tentatively. Shangguan Tianyue glanced at him and said exasperatedly: “Can you really bring Fei’er back? With Fei’er’s cultivation level, and with Zhou Weiqing’s help, the two of them working together… even you will not be able to do anything against them. Look, even Han Tianyou actually took damage from the few of you.”

Zhan LingTian’s expression instantly turned slightly ugly, but he did not protest at that truth.

“Alright, dismissed. This time, you have done well, and you have not thrown our Heaven’s Expanse Palace’s face in front of the Blood Red Hell. Still, you need to work hard and cultivate. Xue’er is yet another step closer to the eight-Jeweled stage.

Hearing those words, Zhan LingTian’s body shook. With Shangguan Tianyue saying that she was one step closer, that naturally meant she had raised a level of Heavenly Energy. In that case, Shangguan Xue’er had already caught up with him in terms of Heavenly Energy, reaching the same stage! More so, she was much younger than he was! Instantly, an invisible pressure seemed to weigh down on Zhan LingTian, causing him to ﬁnd it difﬁcult to even breathe.

“Yes, Second Palace Master, I will deﬁnitely work hard and cultivate.” Zhan Lingtian bowed down respectfully before Shangguan Tianyue before backing out of the room.

Watching him leave, the anger on Shangguan Tianyue’s face slowly subsided, and he gave a soft sigh before muttering to himself: “LongTian, this child, he is truly not bad. Alas, his view of the bigger picture is just too narrow, not even a match for Zhou Weiqing. Such a shame…”

“Father, I will go get Fei’er back.” A cold, clear voice rang out from the shadows at the side, and a cold-faced Shangguan Xue’er walked out.

Clearly, she had been there for quite some time, only Zhan LingTian did not know about it.

Shangguan Tianyue looked at Shangguan Xue’er and he said: “Xue’er, what do you think the reason Fei’er followed Zhou Weiqing?”

Without hesitation, Shangguan Xue’er said: “Curiosity and revenge. Don’t you know Fei’er’s character? At that time in the Lustre Spatial Realm she lost out to Zhou Weiqing, how could she possibly let it go so easily? Furthermore, add to that the curiosity about him, that is probably the reason she ran off to follow him.”

Shangguan Tianyue gave a bitter smile and said: “That little brat Zhou Weiqing, he wouldn’t chase another one of my daughters right. Hmph, that would be too huge a loss.”

Shangguan Xue’er deﬁnitely knew her father much clearer than Zhan LingTian did, and she looked at him suspiciously as she said: “Father, why do I feel like you are very happy instead, not angry about Fei’er and Zhou Weiqing?”

A faint smile crossed Shangguan Tianyue’s lips and he said: “Do I? You can even tell… Xue’er, looks like you have improved a lot. Well, Fei’er following Zhou Weiqing is actually not a bad thing in my eyes. At least, that will let us have some idea what this little brat is up to. Zhou Weiqing this little rascal is extremely different from most youths. The most outstanding and impressive thing about him is not his cultivation level or power, but his will, tenacity and sight. In that aspect, no one in your generation is able to compare to him, not even you. However, that sort of thing also poses another problem, a strong draw towards females, especially when combined with that impressive power and talent of his, that is even more so. With Fei’er by his side, at least that is far better than having those Heavenly Demon Sect or Heavenly Snow Mountain ones by his side. Furthermore, he is at least choosing to develop himself at our ZhongTian Empire, not any other place.”

Upon hearing her father’s words, Shangguan Xue’er was stunned. She had not imagined that not only did her father’s outward showing of being indisposed towards Zhou Weiqing just an act, he actually placed such importance upon him.

“Father, but… Zhou Weiqing and Third Sis is already a pair! What would happen if Fei’er mixed in between them? It was just not long before Third Sis had just returned to us, and she is still in the midst of closed door cultivation… No, no, this will not do. If anything happened between Fei’er and Zhou Weiqing, what would Bing’er do? Mother is still ignoring you, if such a thing happened on top of everything, I’m afraid.”

Hearing Shangguan Xue’er mention Tang Xian, a helpless look appeared on Shangguan Tianyue’s face. Thinking for a moment, he said: “You are right, but you should know that girl Fei’er’s temper. If she decides on something, not even ten dragons can drag her from it. I will go speak to your mother about this. You head to the northern border; you are the only one who can bring her back. However, I do not want you to show yourself directly straight away. As the saying goes, The players in the chess game might be blind to the situation,while a bystander sees everything clearly’. You take a close look on Zhou Weiqing’s development in the north and let me know all about it. At the same time, keep a close eye on that Little Demon Girl your sister, don’t let her and Zhou Weiqing advance too far beyond, otherwise things might be troublesome. If she really has that thinking, you bring her back.”

Shangguan Xue’er nodded and said: “That is the only thing we can do now. In that case, I will pack up and leave then.”

Shangguan Xue’er took her leave as well, and looking at his daughter’s retreating ﬁgure, Shangguan Tianyue did not know why but he suddenly had a bad feeling about things.

If at this moment Zhan LingTian knew that by not bringing Shangguan Fei’er back, it had ended up in Shangguan Xue’er actually being sent to keep an eye on Zhou Weiqing, perhaps he would puke blood. This was truly a miraculous scheme of his to backﬁre, to lose one’s wife as well as one’s soldiers!

…

Northern Border. Peerless Battalion. Zhou Weiqing sat cross-legged in his large tent, fully concentrating on cultivating. A month had passed since he had returned, and ever since that time, he had spent almost all his time in his tent. As for training the Peerless Battalion, there was Shangguan Fei’er, his seven masters of the Heavenly Bow Unit, Wei Feng and the others, and that was more than sufﬁcient.

Lin TianAo had returned to the TianBei City to take command there and to ensure things went well. Of course, at the same time, he brought Yun Li and Little Miss Muddle back there with him. After all, they would be much safer there than at the Peerless Battalion. Their importance to Zhou Weiqing and the entire Peerless Battalion was without question.

Ever since his return, Zhou Weiqing had started training in theSix Ultimate Skill Manipulation Arts. Of course, he had ﬁrst memorised the entirety of the little booklet and followed Long Shiya’s instructions to destroy it after.

The training of the Six Ultimate Skill Manipulation Arts was much more difﬁcult that he had expected. It was totally a complicated type of energy manipulation, conversion and connection. If one had to make a metaphorical comparison, it would be tantamount to using the the Three Thousand Tempering Method, but instead of using it on an individual Skill, it was focusing on the control of Heavenly Energy, but it was tempering all six types of Attributes Heavenly Energy all at once.

In Zhou Weiqing’s hands, he held six Heavenly King Stage Heavenly Beast’s Cores, just exactly corresponding to his own six Attributes. The six Heavenly Cores ﬂew about in his hands, and the Heavenly Energy he was unleashing also changed at lightning speed as per the Attribute. At the same time, as he swapped them about, he also had to unleash an ordinary Heavenly Skill.

However, that Heavenly Skill was not one that he had Stored, but an imitation with his Heavenly Energy. Of course, being a mere beginner, his imitations were far from the power that Long Shiya could bring forth. His current puny imitation couldn’t even kill a rabbit if he tried.

A month of hard work had ﬁnally given Zhou Weiqing some understanding of the Six Ultimate Skill Manipulation Arts. It truly had a high requirement of understanding Heavenly Energy, the various Attributes and all their aspects, as well as ﬁne grained control over it all. At his current state, he had barely taken a ﬁrst step into this world, and had a much longer road to travel down this path. The more he trained in it, the more he improved, but at the same time, the more he realised the sheer intricacies and deep profound secrets that lay within the tip of the iceberg of cultivation. Furthermore, what Long Shiya had given him was actually only the entrance level of the manipulation arts, a mere beginning. Examining his own progress, Zhou Weiqing was certain that without at least a year

or two of hard work, he would not be able to fully grasp it.

Trying to reach the maximum capabilities of the Six Ultimate Skill Manipulation Arts was deﬁnitely not something that could be accomplished easily or quickly. It could be said that by training in it, for the foreseeable future Zhou Weiqing’s actual combat prowess would not increase directly at all.

Another direct translation of an idiom ( 赔了夫⼈⼜折兵), basically it means that a scheme has ended up with a double penalty, or losing the bait along with the ﬁsh If it were any other Heavenly Jewel Master, perhaps this period of stagnation would be deadly, potentially putting them off this amazing skill. However, Zhou Weiqing would not. After all, his Immortal Deity Technique had a unique characteristic… as long as he kept using his Heavenly Energy, the energy whirlpools would continually draw in power, and his cultivation level would slowly increase automatically. As such, concentrating on the Six Ultimate Skill Manipulation Arts would actually only have a minor effect on his Heavenly Energy cultivation.

Furthermore, Zhou Weiqing had discovered as the month had passed and he had improved in the Six Ultimate Skill Manipulation Arts, there had been other beneﬁts to his control of Heavenly Energy. Firstly, he had by now already broken through eighteen of his Death Acupuncture Points, and after this point, he was now able to individually control them, allowing each different Death Acupuncture Point to whirl at different speeds and with their unique changes.

Do not underestimate this seemingly simple ability. In actual combat, previously with Zhou Weiqing’s spiritual power and focus, he was only able to have the eighteen Death Acupuncture Points either strengthened or weakened at the same time. As a result, when he was attacked at any portion of the body, he still had to strengthen his defenses all around, and that would undoubtedly cause a wastage of Heavenly Energy. However, it was different now with the improved control, only requiring the particular Death Acupuncture Points at the area to increase their speeds.

Such ﬁne grained control would allow him to greatly reduce the Heavenly Energy expenditure he had in actual combat.

Of course, this was only one of the beneﬁts of the new improvement. Besides that, in Zhou Weiqing’s continuous training, he also realised it was actually improving the control of his own current Stored Skills.

Simply put, when he used a Skill, he was controlling how it was unleashed, and in doing so had to adjust the Heavenly Energy from within the structures of the Skill. Of course, the better one was able to manipulate and adjust the Heavenly Energy, the greater the changes the Skill could have. For example, using the Lightning Suffering Skill with its multiple paralysis effects, he could now control the four bolts of lightnings separately, their speed, density, even condensing them together, empowering them greatly.

As he continued with the Six Ultimate Skill Manipulation Arts training, Zhou Weiqing slowly understood what Long Shiya had spoke about previously. There were no such things as a truly useless Heavenly Skill… as long as one controlled Heavenly Energy in the right way, any Skill could unleash the power of a Heavenly God Tier.

The Skills that he currently Stored had proven this exact point when the Heavenly Energy was compressed. When he did that, the offensive power of those Skills increased substantially, yet without an actual increase of expenditure of Heavenly Energy.

Just as Zhou Weiqing was immersed in the experience of the Six Ultimate Skill Manipulation Arts, Shangguan Fei’er’s voice suddenly came in from outside. “I’m coming in.”

In this entire month while Zhou Weiqing was in closed door cultivation, only she could actually come in directly to see him. She was very clear about Zhou Weiqing’s power, and knew that he wouldn’t get into trouble with cultivation deviation, unless his Solidiﬁed Dragon Spirit acted up again.

Zhou Weiqing kept the six Heavenly King Stage Cores in his hands and smiled faintly: “Fei’er! What’s up?” This entire month, he had barely had any contact with Fei’er at all indeed. Ever since they had returned from the north, Zhou Weiqing had been training in his tent, and this time he had really left Shangguan Fei’er in the cold.

Originally, Shangguan Fei’er had not thought much about keeping her distance from Zhou Weiqing. However, after an entire month of barely speaking a few sentences with him, even she was starting to feel gloomy. The romance in a young girl’s heart, making her feel anxious and worried, and even the Little Demon Girl of the Heaven’s Expanse Palace was no exception.

“Can’t I look for you even if nothing is up?” Shangguan Fei’er said exasperatedly.

Zhou Weiqing laughed heartily and said: “Of course you can, why? Did you miss me?” His smile was wicked.

“Cheh, who misses you.” Shangguan Fei’er blushed as she said. “The Seventh Legion has sent someone to dispatch us back to the main northern encampment.”

“En?” Zhou Weiqing was caught by surprise. “Why?” Shangguan Fei’er said: “Although it is still early, it will not be too long before the WanShou Empire started sending troops to start harrassing our borders again. We might not be afraid of them, but that Legion Commander Shen Ji of the Seventh Legion was worried that a large number of WanShou Empire

troops might suddenly ambush us, and was worried that we might be in danger.”

Hearing her words, Zhou Weiqing instantly understood. Naturally, what worry would they have for him! It was clearly worry that Shangguan Fei’er might get hurt.

“Should we go or not?” Shangguan Fei’er asked again.

Zhou Weiqing thought for a bit, then said: “We’ll go, but not right at this moment.

“Why not?” Shangguan Fei’er asked curiously. She was puzzled why Zhou Weiqing would choose such a path.

Zhou Weiqing said: “If the WanShou Empire actually sends troops to harass the borders, isn’t that just a perfect opportunity for us to train our own troops? If the numbers are too huge, we can easily hide out as we have always done. There is no actual danger, and only beneﬁt. As for going, that is because eventually when the WanShou Empire ﬁnally starts their real attack, it will also be time to test the results of all our Peerless Battalion training, and also to let our men get a taste of a real large battle. After all, I have never planned to stay here for long… This is not my home empire!”

Shangguan Fei’er said in shock: “You’re bringing the Peerless Battalion away?”

Zhou Weiqing nodded and said: “Yes, our real development cannot be here. I need to return back to my homeland. Here, my main purpose is to build up m y strength, and my actual development will only be in the Heavenly Bow Empire, and only then will have a chance to actually revive it.”

Shangguan Fei’er furrowed her brow and said: “But… the Fei Li Empire has no good will towards you either. If I were to return, wouldn’t you be facing enemies from all sides?”

A ﬂash of pride ﬂickered in Zhou Weiqing’s eyes and he said: “If we back down when running into difﬁculties, then our Peerless Battalion will never become strong. Do not worry, I know our limits, and it is not time to go back yet. Before I think we have sufﬁcient power, I will not play around with our lives and be rash.” Shangguan Fei’er saw the pride in his eyes, and she did not know why but her heart raced slightly at that moment. Standing up abruptly, she said: “Then… then I’ll go refuse them ﬁrst.”

She quickly ran out of the tent, and as soon as she did so, she heaved a sigh of relief, feeling a slight heat on her face. She couldn’t help but ask herself: Fei’er ahh Fei’er, what’s wrong with you, don’t be one of those silly girls.

In the past where she had spent with Zhou Weiqing, he had always teased her and angered her, but she had not responded much as she could not pass that barrier in her heart, and she had always tried to dodge him as much as possible.

Yet, now that he had entered closed door cultivation for a whole month, and the two had not spoken at all, she ended up feeling despondent instead. As a result, she could only vent those feelings in combat while training those Peerless Battalion soldiers, to make herself feel better. When meeting Zhou Weiqing just now, she was shocked to ﬁnd that she had the sudden urge to just jump into his arms.

Now that the Peerless Battalion had been in development for quite a period of time, there was a huge change to it. With all the soldiers having proper food and nutrition, clothing and sleep, along with proper equipment… these rufﬁans who had already been waiting to die in this northern borderlands had undergone a massive reversal, as if infused with a new life. Especially Zhou Weiqing’s reward and punishment system, that had further motivated them and aroused their zeal and enthusiasm.

One month ago, when Zhou Weiqing and the others had just returned, it had coincided with another batch of rufﬁan soldiers who had just been sent to them, numbering less than three hundred.

These new rufﬁans had just been freshly punished, and they had not experienced all the pain and suffering of the current Peerless Battalion soldiers. As such, they were either arrogant, cunning or just sheer scoundrels.

Facing such a situation, Hua Feng, who had taken control of the whole camp in lieu of Zhou Weiqing, just gave a simple command. He split up all three hundred of the new rufﬁans, merging them with the original one thousand and two hundred soldiers, with four of the old birds taking care of one new rufﬁan according to their strengths, and giving them ‘special attentions’. With the new rufﬁan soldiers facing the old hands, more so at a one versus four situation… well they were all intelligent fellows, and in a matter of a mere ten days, the Peerless Battalion had ﬁnally ofﬁcially numbered a thousand ﬁve hundred men working together.

Of course, the reason why these new rufﬁan soldiers could integrate so quickly was also because of the reward and punishment system. The current pay of the Peerless Battalion was actually already higher than the main northern army, not to mention the access to Consolidating Equipment Scrolls and other beneﬁts. More so, those with Heavenly Energy could possibly Awaken their Power Jewels, something they had never imagined possible. Even the most stubborn rufﬁan, under an onslaught of so many enticements, each of them became like docile little kittens under the guidance of the old rufﬁans.

At the same time, now that Shangguan Fei’er had sufﬁcient Heavenly Core materials, she was able to start making the medicines, which came into great effect immediately. With herself as the main support, along with some of the other powerful Physical Jewel Masters, they were able to make use of the medicines to help some of those soldiers who already had some Heavenly Energy to Awaken their Power Jewels. As for which of the soldiers to get such beneﬁts ﬁrst, that was a science in itself. Shangguan Fei’er was extremely intelligent, and she had been around Zhou Weiqing for several months by now, and had already been ‘contaminated’ by him. She told all the soldiers without Physical or Elemental Jewels that there was a severe limit to such a precious treasured medicine, and only the most hardworking soldiers who had the best results would be able to go through it and Awaken their Power Jewels.

After that, she only gave a quota of ten per day to undergo the procedure of having those high leveled Physical Jewel Masters help him Awaken his Power Jewels.

With that, it was as if those soldiers without Personal Jewels were suddenly under some sort of spell, injected with steroids, and each of them training as if their lives depended on it. They would not even stop training until they were unable to move a muscle… such zest and vigor, deﬁnitely a massive increase.

In truth, anyone who was not a Jewel Master would deﬁnitely be the same if they met with the same circumstance. After all, the difference in rank and status between a Jewel Master and an ordinary person was unbelievable, and one could say it was the dream ‘occupation’. With such a chance in front of them, who could resist, who would not pit their lives to do so? Naturally, those Physical and Elemental Jewel Masters had a similar zest. They too were putting their lives on the lines in training, not wanting to get caught up. Of course, what drew them most was naturally the Consolidating Equipment Masters and Skill Storing Fees. Zhou Weiqing had been right indeed. In the world, only proﬁt and gain was a constant. With sufﬁcient draw, he was able to bind the Peerless Battalion soldiers to him. Feelings and emotions had to be fostered, and at the same time, once these men got into a habit of listening to his orders, they would also gain feelings for this organization called the Peerless Battalion.

Towards his own people, Zhou Weiqing was never a stingy person, perhaps even overly generous. With his soldiers training so hard, pushing themselves to the limit and beyond every day, he got Lin TianAo to get some doctors to prescribe some medicines to brew some nourishing and regenerative medicines, adding them to their usual food and drinks.

In such a way, the Peerless Battalion soldiers were all nourished into tall, large, energetic fellows, and their improvement was at a tremendous pace indeed. In the end, even Shangguan Fei’er couldn’t bear to purposely withhold the pace of the medicines, and slowly from ten men, the quota was increased to twenty… thirty… and ﬁnally ﬁfty.

Of course, it was not just the increase in personal strength, even their equipment was improving by leaps and bounds. Yun Li and Little Miss Muddle were constantly churning out Consolidating Equipment Scrolls, and the custom made armour that Lin TianAo had ordered was also being completed and shipped in week after week. By now, the strongest of the Peerless Battalion were already all equipped with Spatial Objects. The entire Battalion grew in strength, their overall power going up through all aspects. Let alone the others, even the Heavenly Bow Unit masters were all secretly shocked by the sheer amount of improvement in the Peerless Battalion.

However, they were also clear this strength had not come without a cost, and the sheer amount of gold that had been sunk into building such an armed force was deﬁnitely an astronomical ﬁgure. Still, Zhou Weiqing had previously told them about how he had won a hundred million gold coins in the Heavenly Jewel Tournament, so they were not too surprised.

In truth, as the time had passed, the hundred million gold coins that Zhou Weiqing had won was already pretty much spent. However, with the Spatial Sack of the Six Ultimate Heavenly Emperor, the value of the Heavenly Cores within were astronomical, and no matter how much they spent, he would not have any ﬁnancial problems within the next ten years.

… Time passed day after day, and before long, ,another three months had passed. The weather of the northern border also grew slightly warmer; no one would actually call it hot, but without question this was the best season of the north. Summer had come.

With the arrival of summer, the peace of the northern border was now disrupted. The annual raids of the WanShou Empire was starting, as the weather was ﬁnally not too cold and more suitable for ﬁghting, and their main goal was to gain enough food stores to get through the winter. As such, the start of the summer was the time for them to scout and harass the border.

WanShou Empire. Swift Wolf Regiment Command Tent.

A massive man about forty years of age was seated on the Commander’s seat, and there were eight others seated before him respectfully.

*PENG* A loud clash, as the large and solid table was totally shattered by a blow from that massive commander’s palm. “Bastards! You useless bunch, what can you all do?! Do you mean to tell me that we sent out three Companies of men, and not only did we not gain anything, none of them actually returned?!” Butler was the Regiment Commander of the Swift Wolf Regiment, and he had ten thousand wolf cavalry soldiers under his command. To the WanShou Empire, this was already considered one of the more valuable elite units of the army.

Ten thousand wolf cavalry troops, charging in a vast plains, that was an imposing sight that would even cloud the sky. With just his Regiment alone, he had once taken down an entire Legion of ZhongTian ordinary troops.

In the Wolfman Tribe, Butler was the current Wolfman Tribe Leader, Bathuru’s eldest son, and was also the heir to the Tribe Leader position. Furthermore, he was a power Heavenly Jewel Master at the nine Jeweled stage. He could be considered one of the top elites amongst the younger generation in the WanShou Empire. On the left part of his chest, there was a white, triangle shaped insignia, showing that he had once ascended the Heavenly Snow Mountain, to undergo the baptism ceremony there as well as teachings. Towards any WanShou Empire soldier, that was an ultimate honour, and as a result, Butler was highly respected and had much status in the entire army.

However, today Butler was extremely angry. In the last half a month, ,he had dispatched three Companies of his elite wolfman cavalry soldiers to the ZhongTian Empire border to scout and patrol. This was a customary annual tradition, yet this year, a very different result had occurred, as out of the three companies of Wolfman Cavalry soldiers, not a single one had lived to return.

Such a situation had never happened before. After all, that was three hundred wolfman cavalry soldiers! Each and every wolfman cavalry was chosen from the elites amongst their tribesmen, rearing and teaching their war wolf mounts from a young age, before stepping onto the battleﬁeld when they were adult. How could his heart not ache at such a huge loss? Ordinarily, just these three hundred wolfman cavalry soldiers would be enough to rout an enemy force of several Battalions of ordinary ZhongTian cavalry soldiers, let alone their infantry soldiers. As for the ZhongTian Heavy Cavalry, they would not be able to catch up to their speedy war wolf mounts to actually ﬁght them. In terms of speed, the war wolves were afraid of no one.

One of the Wolfmen on the left, slightly shorter but well built, spoke in a solemn tone: “Sir, how about we dispatch more troops to have a look. It looks like this year the ZhongTian Empire has prepared well for us. Our men must have met with an ambush from a large number of troops, otherwise they could not possibly have been totally wiped out, with not even a single one managing to escape to report back.” Butler gave a cold humph, before saying: “Send more men?

How many do you plan to send?”

The short wolfman said boldly: “Sir, I am willing to lead a Battalion of Wolfman Cavalry soldiers to slay all those ambushing enemies, to take revenge for our brothers.”

“A Battalion? We have already lost three hundred men, are you trying to make me lose another Battalion? Since the ZhongTian Empire dared to take action against us, they naturally know how much we number. They must be seizing this opportunity that we always send a smaller number of troops at the start of the summer, and purposely set a trap to wait for us. Well, since they have set a trap for us, I’ll personally crush those traps and their ambushers. So… we will not do as they expect… sending just a mere Battalion, but our entire Legion. I do not believe that the ZhongTian Empire will actually send that huge an army to ambush us. Send out the orders, ask the Eagle Tribe brothers to help scout and see if they have constructed any fortiﬁcations on the borders or if there are any signs of overly large numbers of enemies. If not, we will set out in three days time.”

“Sir, should we report it up the command structure ﬁrst?” One of the other Wolfman Tribe commanders couldn’t help but ask. Butler said angrily: “Report up? Will reporting up let my three hundred brothers come back to life? As the humans say, sometimes a ﬁeld commander has to decide against even the king’s orders. Let me ﬁrst wipe out those humans who dare ambush us before we make our report. Alright, enough, you all go and prepare for the ﬁght; we will wait for news from the Eagle Tribe before I make the ﬁnal decision.”

Although he was currently in a rage, he was still able to hold on to some reasoning, and would not just send troops out just like that. If an entire Legion was set as an ambushing party, he would not just strike out like that. However, if it wasn’t a large number of enemies, Butler had absolute conﬁdence that his ten thousand strong wolf cavalry soldiers could sweep in and out of the border areas quickly, and take swift revenge upon those who had slain his three hundred tribesmen.

…

At one side, Butler was in a rage, but on the other side of the border, Zhou Weiqing was extremely excited.

By this time, it had already been a total of four months since he had separated from his teacher, the Six Ultimate Heavenly Emperor. His training in the Six Ultimate Skill Manipulation Arts was also proceeding nicely, and he was getting much more skillful in it. It had to be said that Zhou Weiqing truly had talent in this area of controlling, and added to the fact that he had spent two years learning the ﬁne control of archery, mastering the control of his own physical body, that had also helped in the matter. As such, though he was only starting on

this Six Ultimate Skill Manipulation Arts, he already had some mastery of it. What followed next would just be continuous practice to mature in his understanding and usage of it.

The Six Ultimate Heavenly Emperor Long Shiya had not returned to look for him, but Zhou Weiqing was not worried or urgent. After all, if Long Shiya did not know where his friend was currently at, to look for a person in the entire massive continent, that was no easy feat.

Zhou Weiqing had just returned from the Seventh Legion Headquarters. He had just brought Shen Ji a large gift, three hundred wolfman tribesmen and war wolf corpses.

After all, ever since Shen Ji had learned that Shangguan Fei’er and himself were from the Heaven’s Expanse Palace, and had it veriﬁed with Zhan LingTian, he treated the Peerless Battalion extremely well. As long as they had any requests, they were usually met, no matter food, equipment or other supplies necessary, even sending his own Seventh Legion men to escort the supplies to them to ensure their safety. Naturally, the three Companies of Butler’s Swift Wolf Regiment had been taken down by the Peerless Battalion. Previously, the seven masters of the Heavenly Bow Unit had taken down an entire Company by themselves, let alone the current Peerless Battalion who had undergone almost half a

year of intense training, and were all at an stimulated excitement, ready to test the fruits of their labour.

When the three Companies of Wolf Cavalry soldiers met over a thousand archers with Consolidated Equipment Bows, their fates were already sealed. Before they had charged within a distance of three hundred yards, all of them had already died, with not a single survivor. As for the Peerless Battalion, it was without question that not a single one of them was injured, let alone dead. The true beneﬁts of long ranged attacks was shown to their fullest potential here. Such a military achievement was of inestimable value to the conﬁdence of the Peerless Battalion soldiers.

When Zhou Weiqing had sent the combat spoils to the Seventh Legion, everyone was shocked. Those were three hundred wolf cavalry soldiers! To be able to slaw so many wolf cavalry soldiers was deﬁnitely a great merit of service, and to any Battalion Commander, it was already more than enough to grant him a rank of Vice Legion Commander. However, Zhou Weiqing declined any promotions that Shen Ji was offering, instead asking to change it into monetary rewards. In truth, Shen Ji was probably the only one who was not even surprised that the Peerless Battalion was able to slay so many Wolfman Cavalry soldiers. After all, in his eyes, Zhou Weiqing and Shangguan Fei’er were from the Heaven’s Expanse

Palace. Though the Wolfman Cavalry soldiers were indeed

powerful, they were no match for powerhouses from the Great Saint Lands. Furthermore, he had personally seen their power with his own eyes, and he did not have any suspicions about the truth about the killings.

Besides the monetary reward, Zhou Weiqing also asked Shen Ji for another favour; that was that he hoped to incorporate the Rufﬁan Battalions from the other three Legions into his own Rufﬁan Battalion. Although he already have one thousand ﬁve hundred men in his Peerless Battalion, it was still far from the number and power in his heart. He would rather not have any promotions, rank or prestige, preferring to bolster his numbers with more rufﬁans.

The fact of the matter had already proven itself in his hands. The rufﬁan soldiers truly had a greater potential than most ordinary soldiers, just by virtue of the fact they were able to survive as rufﬁans. Furthermore, since they were exiled from all the various different sources in the respective Legions, it should not be a big problem taking in all those men. Shen Ji immediately agreed that he would send up the request on Zhou Weiqing’s behalf; after all he was only in charge of the Seventh Legion and did not have control of the other Rufﬁan Battalions, and could not guarantee success.

Of course, to the Main Northern Army Command, those few Rufﬁan Battalions were nothing in their eyes, and giving those men to Zhou Weiqing was no big deal.

Chapter 145 Swift Wolf Regiment!

Zhou Weiqing returned to the Peerless Battalion, doling out the reward that they had received.

In truth, by now the soldiers of the Peerless Battalion no longer placed much importance on gold. After having followed Zhou Weiqing for so long, their horizons had been broadened, and they were at a much higher stage now. At the same time, the ‘smell of gunpowder’ was strong in the general atmosphere of the Peerless Battalion, as all the soldiers competed to see who could earn more Consolidating Equipment Scrolls, Stored Skills, or even just whose Heavenly Energy could rise the fastest.

In the original Rufﬁan Battalion, before Zhou Weiqing had taken control, even for those original Physical Jewel Masters, it was extremely rare they had Consolidated Equipment. As a result, it was an easy task to homogenize all their current Consolidated Equipment. Zhou Weiqing’s speciﬁcations for their Consolidating was a set process. First, a Consolidated Equipment Bow, next would be the two sets of Consolidated Equipment Wings. Of course, this was just the beginning, and as their power increased, there would be more in the future. As Zhou Weiqing returned to his command tent, Wei Feng and Hua Feng both arrived at the same time to see him.

“Battalion Commander Sir, Reporting… The situation is quite dire…” Wei Feng’s expression was rather ugly, but Hua Feng remained his usual calm, unﬂurried self, as if nothing could cause emotional turbulence to him. Although he came in together with Wei Feng, they seemed to have different objectives.

“Hmm, what is it?” Zhou Weiqing sat down hard on his chair with a smile on his face. He was currently in a good mood, as the news he had gotten previously was that there were three other Rufﬁan Battalions in the entire northern armies, with each around a thousand man strong or more. If he could gain all these men and incorporate them into his Peerless Battalion, they would number about ﬁve thousand strong, and he was expectant for that to happen.

Five thousand men was also the ideal number in Zhou Weiqing’s heart. After all, if they numbered too many, he was also unable to upkeep them all. Furthermore, once their numbers grew too huge, they would also lose the speed and mobility that would make them more effective. What he needed was ﬁve thousand of the strongest, most elite forces, not a huge army. It looked like soon his goal, in terms of numbers at least, would be met, so how could he not be excited and happy? It meant that he was yet another step closer towards returning home and reviving his homeland.

Wei Feng said solemnly: “According to our brothers deeper in the border, they have reported back that after the Swift Wolf Regiment had lost three of their Companies, there was much activity within the camp. Although they have not moved out yet, from observation it seems that they are preparing to leave at any moment. At the same time, the skies have recently been ﬁlled with the eagle tribe scouts, and we have shot down a few, but some have also escaped. We expect that they have already discovered our position. Battalion Commander, if the Swift Wolf Regiment actually comes enmasse to attack us, it will be extremely unfavourable for us! We need to make preparations for the worst case scenario, especially if their entire Regiment attacks us, what are we to do? Battalion Commander, you need to make a decision as soon as possible…”

Hearing his words, the smile of Zhou Weiqing’s face disappeared. “Big Bro Wei, what is your idea regarding the situation then?”

After so much time together, they had all become familiar with each other, and much closer. Zhou Weiqing no longer called him formally by his rank as he previously did. Wei Feng said without hesitation: “We should pack up everything immediately and retreat into the tunnels. Although the eagle tribe scouts have discovered us, they are probably not able to ascertain our exact location. As long as we disappear into our hidden tunnels, even if the WanShou Empire attacks

in numbers, they will not be able to do anything with us. After all, they can’t possibly have a large number of forces stay in our borders forever.”

Zhou Weiqing turned his gaze towards Hua Feng and he asked: “Teacher, what about your idea?”

Hua Feng smiled faintly. He was originally extremely suave and handsome, and though he was older now, he still had the distinct ﬂavour of a mature man. His cultured and reﬁned look was also one of the reasons why Shui Cao had started chasing him all those years ago, and all the way up until now.

“Kill them, it’s just a Regiment.” Hua Feng said easily. Surprise ﬁlled Wei Feng’s face and he said: “Instructor Hua

Feng, are you joking with me? That is no ordinary Regiment, it

is a Regiment of ten thousand wolf cavalry soldiers, the notorious Swift Wolf Regiment! Don’t you know the victories they have carved through the battleﬁeld over the years at our expense? Not only are they one of the main Regiments of the WanShou Empire, they have previously carved a path through our Seventh and Eighth Legions’ formations. Countless of our brethren have died at their hands… Such a force of experienced and battle hardened warriors is deﬁnitely able to take on an entire Legion of our army. Yet, our Peerless Battalion only numbers over a thousand brothers. How could we possibly ﬁght with them? Isn’t that a suicide mission?”

The smile on Hua Feng’s face did not waver. “If they were truly a Legion of a hundred thousand men, I would have the same opinion as you. However, although these wolf cavalry soldiers are strong, they only number ten thousand. Do you know what ten thousand means? That means, if we are accurate enough, each of us only need seven arrows, and we can wipe them all out. This half a year of intense training and hard work is deﬁnitely not for nothing…”

Without hesitation, Wei Feng retorted: “Battalion Commander once proclaimed that as long as our power is not several times that of our enemies, we should not easily take action…” The Peerless Battalion was on the ascent, and he could see the improvement day after day, and he did not want to easily take the risk of seeing it ruined just like that.

Hua Feng said passively: “In my eyes, our power is already several times that of our enemies. In the end, the real battleﬁeld is the best place, perhaps the only place, that we can test the fruits of our training. If we only chose the weakest opponents no matter our strength, when can our troops truly grow up? Weiqing, you decide…”

Zhou Weiqing paused for a moment before laughing, saying: “I accept both your suggestions. My decision is as follows – ﬁrst, move all our camp and supplies down into the tunnels, and we will all move out to strike out at our enemy instead. We will choose the battleﬁeld instead of waiting for them to come to us, and if we aren’t able to win, isn’t it easy for us to run? Once we enter the tunnels, so what if they chase after us? Are they going to mount their war wolves and charge into the tunnels?”

“Ah?” Wei Feng had not expected that Zhou Weiqing would actually give such an answer. “But, Battalion Commander, if that is the case, we might end up revealing our tunnels. What would we do when the main WanShou Army actually attacks…”

Zhou Weiqing said: “I have already thought through that. In truth, this place is so desolate and cut off, without any natural resources or methods of reprovisioning without going out of the way. It is not a place for us to stay and develop on a long term basis. This is also why I gave the order to stop digging tunnels and expanding our underground base three months ago. As long as the Swift Wolf Regiment dares come and we manage to destroy them, we will leave right after that. The Seventh Legion has already asked us to leave for quite some time, and we will join them to get past this year’s WanShou

Empire’s invasion. With the screen of the Seventh Legion, it

will be much easier for us to train and gain experience as well.”

Looking at Wei Feng, Zhou Weiqing stood up and walked up to him, clapping him on the shoulders as he said: “Big Bro Wei, I know you think we have already built something up here, and have some sentiments for the place, especially after having stayed here for so long. I know it will not be easy for you to leave this place, but in the end, this is not the place for us to stay for long. For the future of our Peerless Battalion, we will have to leave sooner or later…”

Wei Feng nodded his head and said: “I understand. It is rather surprising to me as well… after over ten years here, I have always hated this barren and desolate northern borderlands. Yet, when it really comes down to leaving, only then do I feel unwilling to do so. However, you are right, Battalion Commander, I will listen to you. I will go make preparations…” Hua Feng grabbed hold of him and said: “Wait, don’t rush off like that! We will still need to discuss our tactics. Ten thousand Wolf Cavalry Soldiers is the best grindstone for our current Peerless Battalion, and also the best chance for us to test our combat Skills. We have to prepare in the best possible way to

ensure the success.”

Zhou Weiqing said: “Big Bro Wei, send for all the ofﬁcers in our Peerless Battalion of the Company Leader rank and above. Let us have a discussion about tactics as well as allocation of tasks. If the Swift Wolf Regiment does not come, that is ﬁne, but if they do come, we must give them a good head on ﬁght, dealing them a painful blow. Tell all our brothers, if the Swift Wolf Regiment dares come, we will let them taste our Peerless Battalion’s six months of training, to show the fruits of our brothers’ labour. Issue ten gold coins to all our brothers, and inform them that after the upcoming battle, there will be another round of reward according to their battle merits. Those who have performed the best will be directly awarded with Consolidating Equipment or Skill Storing. This extra gold will be the pay for participating in this battle.”

This time, if the Swift Wolf Regiment actually attacked, it will undoubtedly be the biggest test to the Peerless Battalion thus far. Although Zhou Weiqing had arranged a backup plan, it was undoubtedly a good chance to test how successful the last few months of training had been for his untested troops. At the same time, it would also be a good test about Zhou Weiqing’s training theory and method, whether or not it had succeeded. It was a good time for the test too, if it were successful, it would deﬁnitely greatly improve the morale and cohesiveness of the entire Peerless Battalion, and if it failed, with their backup plans they should not be in too much danger, and it would not be too late for them to switch up their training methods.

Wei Feng rushed off, and for the entirety of the next day, Zhou Weiqing’s large tent was ﬁlled with a sense of excitement and nervousness. Let alone Zhou Weiqing himself, even Wei Feng and the old hands of the Heavenly Bow Unit were excited about this upcoming major ﬁght. All of them had seen with their own eyes how much the men of the Peerless Battalion had grown over the past few months, but no one could tell for sure what standards they had reached, especially in actual combat.

…

Two days later. Norther Border Plains.

“Reporting, Sir. The Swift Wolf Regiment has appeared in our borders without warning, heading straight for us at top speed…” Zhou Weiqing was standing at the bottom of their hill camp, though by now it had been totally dismantled, with all supplies moved down into the underground tunnels, and even the soldiers were resting underground in order to react instantly.

“Very good. Continue scouting…” Zhou Weiqing gave the command, and the scout ran off speedily. One could not underestimate these scouts, as they were the ﬁrst few to be given the Consolidated Equipment Wings, and their cultivation level were all Six Physical Jewels or higher. Although they only numbered three in total, they were all powerful warriors and scouts who could hold their own, well trained in stealth and scouting. In this wide plains of the northern borders, if one could not get ﬁrst hand news at the fastest time, danger and death could fall upon them at any time.

“Alright, they are really coming. Issue my order, get everyone to prepare.” Zhou Weiqing shouted out.

The Peerless Battalion reacted extremely quickly, and within minutes, all the soldiers were dressed and geared up, standing in formation neatly before Zhou Weiqing.

The Peerless Battalion numbered one thousand and ﬁve hundred currently, but they were still split into ten Companies rather than reassigning them all. Each Company had one Company Leader, a Vice Company Leader, and ten Squad Leaders. Currently, they were all neatly in ten groups in front of Zhou Weiqing.

Of all ten, the First and Second Companies looked the most ferocious and valiant. Ever since Zhou Weiqing had taken over the Peerless Battalion, these two Companies had been the ﬁrst to get their selection of warriors, all of them the top Physical Jewel Masters. To be able to enter these two Companies, one had to display extremely powerful personal combat skills, defeating many contenders to gain the spot. Of course, their treatment was also the best.

Currently, Shangguan Fei’er stood in front of these two Companies. Besides their own two Company Leaders, these two Companies would directly report to her. The other eight Companies were also in neat formations, with not a single soldier showing any signs of fear or cowardice. All that could be seen in their eyes was excitement, bloodlust and yearning for battle… to prove themselves.

These last several months of the Peerless Battalion had been spent training with all their might, and not only their personal strength, but overall strength had raised considerable. It was not just Zhou Weiqing or the ofﬁcers who could see this, even the soldiers could see it for themselves, and feel their own rise in power. When each of them could use their bows and arrows to accurately shoot at a distance of ﬁve hundred yards and beyond, one could just imagine their excitement. When they all started gain their Consolidated Equipment Bows, to see the sheer force and range of the bows, the attached explosive or piercing powers endowed by the Consolidated Bow, their hearts was ﬁlled with an unspoken excitement.

The current Peerless Battalion was now truly no longer the Rufﬁan Battalion of the past. Although they still only numbered a thousand and ﬁve hundred men, barely a few hundred more than their past, their personal strength was like night and day. Not only that, their equipment was top notch, perhaps more accurately described as elites armed to the teeth. After all the time and money spent, each and every one of the one thousand ﬁve hundred Peerless Battalion warriors were now geared with the titanium alloy light mail, including hat and mask.

These custom designed titanium alloy mail was named the Peerless Mail, an entire set only weighed about eleven kilograms, but their sheer defensive capabilities was ﬁner than any full set of heavy plate armour. More importantly, the joints of the Peerless Mail were ﬁne and ﬂexible, not restricting movement in any way. Furthermore, due to the light weight, to these Peerless Battalion soldiers who all had Heavenly Energy, it was not a burden at all.

Besides the Peerless Mail, Zhou Weiqing also borrowed some ideas from the gear of the Heavy Cavalry Soldiers. Each of the Peerless Battalion soldiers were provided with a small round shield, also custom made. They were extremely tiny, only eight diameters each, but their edges were very sharp. With Shangguan Fei’er’s unique close combat skills that she had taught them, these titanium alloy small shields could not just help in their defense, it could also be used as a surprise weapon.

At the same time, the warriors of the First and Second Companies were also provided with four javelins, holstered behind their back. Each of these javelins were three chi and six inches long. These were obviously not for close combat, but for throwing.

As for the remaining eight Companies, four were equipped with long spears, while the other four were equipped with large cavalry sabres. Besides that, naturally all of them were bearing a longbow on their back, along with four quiver of arrows. Even those arrows were of the diamond-shaped tip, forged with titanium alloy, extremely sharp and guaranteeing a power piercing effect.

Currently, the entire Battalion of them had already Awakened their Power Jewels, and as such in the entire Peerless Battalion, with the exception of Wei Feng who already had all his Consolidated Equipment, or all the Elemental jewel masters, pretty much everyone already had Consolidated Equipment Bows. Of them, six Companies all had Consolidated Bows with the explosive effect, while four had Consolidated Bows with the piercing effect. The reason why they still carried ordinary longbows was because their Heavenly Energy could not possibly sustain them through continuous ﬁring during long battles, and these ordinary longbows were considered a spare. Despite being ‘spares’, these longbows were extremely rare and ﬁne tough longbows. After all, they were all Jewel Masters, and compared to any ordinary soldiers their strength and physiques were incomparable. Even without using their Consolidated Bows, their killing range was at least at the three hundred yard range, with some of the ﬁner archers even able to reach a four hundred yard range.

Wei Feng ran back towards Zhou Weiqing, giving him a proper army salute. “Reporting, Battalion Commander Sir. Our Peerless Battalion is here in full strength, one thousand ﬁve hundred and six men present. Please give our next orders.”

Zhou Weiqing nodded towards him and said: “Thank you for your troubles, Vice Commander Wei.”

At this moment, Zhou Weiqing was also fully dressed in titanium alloy light mail, although his mail was decorated in strange red lines and patterns, deﬁnitely making it convenient to distinguish him from the crowd.

Zhou Weiqing took of his helmet, holding it under his arms before he swept his gaze towards his Peerless Battalion men. “My brothers of the Peerless Battalion, do you still remember? When I ﬁrst got here as your Battalion Commander, I set up those few rules… Amongst them was the one that stated when we faced any enemies, if we do not have absolute conﬁdence in defeating them, we will not attack,

needing at least several times their power before we do so. That is because our lives are extremely important, our most valuable asset, and that is what we must take care of. I will not hide anything from you, we are about to face the WanShou Empire’s Swift Wolf Regiment, a Regiment of ten thousand

Wolf Cavalry Soldiers. We only number one thousand ﬁve

hundred in total, but we are about to face ten thousand Wolf Cavalry Soldiers. Such a difference in numbers might seem like we are at an absolute disadvantage. However, I am still adamant in bringing you all to ﬁght. Do you all know why?”

Upon hearing that the enemy would be ten thousand wolf cavalry soldiers, a small commotion rose up from the Peerless Battalion soldiers. However, their formation remained steady and did not scatter at all.

All of them knew the notoriety of the Wolf Cavalry Soldiers, with some having even witnessed it for themselves. Yet, at the same time, a majority of the soldiers had seen for themselves how the seven masters of the Heavenly Bow Unit had taken out an entire Company of Wolf Cavalry soldiers just by themselves. Furthermore, just not too long ago, they had personally wiped out three Companies of Wolf Cavalry soldiers with ease, not even taken a single casualty or even injury.

Shangguan Fei’er swept her cold gaze across the soldiers, and instantly the few muttering protests were silenced, as no one dared continue speaking.

Zhou Weiqing smiled faintly and continued: “The reason why I have decided to lead you all into battle against such an enemy is because it is time to test your half year of training. As long as you all obey all our orders, I can personally guarantee that no one will be in any danger. What I want is not just a mere victory, but an absolute, complete victory with zero losses. Otherwise, I would not have chosen the path of archery for all of you. I will not talk too much any more… in the battleﬁeld I do not require all of you to have to greatest morale or spirits, but I need all of you to obey all our commands absolutely. If we are ﬁghting on the battleﬁeld, anyone who disobeys a command, no matter who it is, we will kill him off instantly. You know very well how terrifying your seven archery masters and their archery is, and this time they will be the enforcers on the battleﬁeld. Alright, each Company, receive your orders. Besides the First and Second Company, everyone move out in a reverse triangle formation.” “Yes Sir!” All the Company Leaders shouted in compliance. In the next moment, eight Companies, a thousand two hundred men in total, ﬂew into action, heading out swiftly towards the plains.

Zhou Weiqing gestured towards Shangguan Fei’er before mounting his Single-Horned Ghost Demon Horse. Along with Wei Feng and the seven Masters of the Heavenly Bow Unit, they too headed towards the plains.

Although the enemy was still quite a distance from them, they knew that the Wolf Cavalry Soldiers were extremely fast, and it would be barely two hours before they would meet. Although Zhou Weiqing and the ofﬁcers had already planned out everything, when they were actually on the battleﬁeld, it would be a lie to say that they were not nervous. Even for Zhou Weiqing, this would be the ﬁrst time he was in a full scale battle of numbers above ten thousand. After all, no matter how much conﬁdence they had, they were still severely outnumbered by their enemies.

The atmosphere about them was stiﬂing, almost oppressive, as the Peerless Battalion soldiers reached their destination and rested there upon command, bringing their Heavenly Energy to their max in preparation. Zhou Weiqing sat atop his Single Horned Ghost Demon Horse, Hua Feng and Wei Feng at his sides respectively. If one could be described as the most idle and indolent, it would deﬁnitely be Zhou Weiqing’s teacher Mu En, who was currently gnawing on a chicken thigh. At the same time, Luo Ke Di was beside him drinking wine from a small bottle. The two of them looked as if they were here on

holiday.

However, no one would have any complaints against the two of them. In terms of cultivation level, perhaps the Company Leaders of the various Companies would be comparable to them. However, even those Company Leaders were extremely clear that even if all of them were to ﬁght the two Scoundrel Rogue pair, they would be no match for them. Just their miraculous archery… up until now the Peerless Battalion Soldiers had barely learned a smattering. Even so, they had already improved by leaps and bounds from that.

The Swift Wolf Regiment was indeed extremely fast, their war wolves moving swiftly like the wind, and any enemy they met in their path was smashed aside like an autumn wind sweeping fallen leaves, destroyed in an instant.

Butler sat astride his massive war wolf with gold fur, leading his tribesmen and soldiers in a charge. The Wolf Cavalry Soldiers did not carry any supplies with them; their supplies were their enemies, their loots. The corpses of their enemies were the best food for their war wolves, and the supplies of their enemies were also the target of the wolfmen tribe people.

“Has the eagle tribe veriﬁed all the information?” Butler asked the ofﬁcer beside him.

“Yes Sir, they have already veriﬁed it. It appears that there is only a Battalion of ZhongTian Empire troops camped out in the seven o’clock direction. The Eagle Tribe has already scouted them out in detail, and due to the terrain of their camp, it is impossible for us to ambush them. However, they only number two thousand at most, and they are all infantry soldiers.”

A cruel light ﬂashed in Butler’s eyes as his mouth curved up in a merciless grin. “Good, very good. Let those humans become the sacriﬁcial offering to our lost tribesmen. Send out my order, kill them all, leave no survivors, not even any possible warhorses of their enemy. We will split the spoils of war after this.”

The Wolf Cavalry Soldiers nearby directly heard Butler’s voice, and a thick bloodlust sprang into their eyes. The Swift Wolf Regiment had achieved fame since a long time ago, and it could be said that all their hands were soaked in blood. Slaughtering two thousand infantry soldiers was just simply too easy for them.

In the distance, the range of hills slowly entered the visions of the Wolf Cavalry Soldiers. Although it was still a distance away, they could see the shape of it in the distance, especially the ﬂags of the enemies on the plains in front of the hills.

The ﬂag of the Peerless Battalion only had a single side, but it was huge, almost ﬁfteen metres tall. The design of the ﬂag was simple, with the outer edges lined with silver, and the huge words ‘Peerless Battalion’ in the middle. At this moment, this massive ﬂag was held stably in Zhou Weiqing’s hands.

As the Wolf Cavalry Soldiers spotted the Peerless Battalion Soldiers, naturally the Peerless Battalion Soldiers spotted their enemies at the same time.

“All stand!” Wei Feng shouted out loud, and in a cacophony of clanging sounds, the Peerless Battalion soldiers all stood up, still in their reverse triangle formation. This formation would allow them space for all to use their archery properly.

“Consolidated Equipment Bows, Release!” Zhou Weiqing’s ﬁrst order came down swiftly. The Peerless Battalion soldiers had been assigned Consolidated Bows according to their respective Physical Jewel Attributes. For example, those Physical Jewel Masters that had Stamina and Strength were assigned the Explosive type Overlord Bows. The other Physical Attributes were assigned the Piercing Type Overlord Bows. However, typically speaking the most common attribute was the Strength Attribute, and thus so many of them had the explosive type Overlord Bow.

Zhou Weiqing did not take action personally, instead raising the massive ﬂag in his hands. As he did so, a wild aura of bloodlust burst forth from him and he shouted: “Peerless Battalion brothers, before us is the Swift Wolf Regiment that has raided our homeland countless of times, slain countless of our comrades, an important unit of the WanShou Empire. Today, the opportunity has come for you to use your arrows to personally take revenge for all your countrymen. Everyone, get ready, take aim and listen for my command!”

One thousand two hundred Consolidated Bows raised up slowly as they stood shoulder to shoulder, their arms steady, arrows already nocked to their bowstrings. The Wolf Cavalry Soldiers were so speedy that as soon as they entered vision, they wheeled and charged instantly.

An entire Regiment of war wolves charging at top speed… although the sound was deﬁnitely no match for war horses, their speed was much more terrifying. A sea of black cascaded down towards them in a neat formation, like a massive dark cloud bank descending from the skies to swallow the entire Peerless battalion.

In a blink of an eye, the Wolf Cavalry Soldiers had already reached a distance of thousand ﬁve hundred yards.

At this time, Mu En and Luo Ke Di had kept the food and wine in their hands, and the seven masters of the Heavenly Bow Unit had all drawn their respective bows.

“Draw your bows, get ready!” Zhou Weiqing shouted.

Ten breaths. The Wolf Cavalry Soldiers had charged to a thousand yard distance, and the Peerless Battalion soldiers could already sense the powerful scent of blood emanating from them. Row after row of Consolidated Bows, pulled to full crescents, and the thick reverberation of Heavenly Energy was almost palpable as the entire Peerless Battalion stood at the ready, and it was as if the very air around them was twisting and turning subtly.

“Release!” Zhou Weiqing pointed ahead with the massive ﬂag as he shouted in an explosive voice.

An ear piercing screech, and Zhou Weiqing almost lost his hearing instantly. One thousand two hundred Overlord Bows rang out at once, the sheer volume of the screeching sound causing even the charging war wolves in the distance to be startled.

The effect of releasing one thousand two hundred Overlord Bows at the same time was totally unexpected. Just the sound of it alone was enough to strike fear deep into the soul.

One thousand two hundred arrows ﬂew out along with the sound, but the only thing that could be seen was a wave of shadows.

The absolute maximum range of the Overlord Bow was a thousand two hundred yards, but in order to ensure accuracy, Zhou Weiqing had waited til the enemies had passed the one thousand one hundred yard distance before ordering to ﬁre.

“What is that sound?” At the release of the bows, Regiment Commander Butler was given a shock. Although they were still relatively far from their enemies, sound travelled quickly especially across the empty plains, and such a powerful shrill screech caused him to feel a strong sense of unease.

Right at that moment, a series of violent explosions mixed with shouts and screams of pain, along with the thudding sound of arrow impacting into ﬂash abruptly rang forth.

The front row of the charging wolf cavalry soldiers had never expected that they would meet with such powerful attacks at such a range. Although they were still more than a thousand yards away from their enemies, as these arrows ﬁlled with piercing or exploding effects reached them, most of the wolf cavalry soldiers were not able to dodge or block them.

It had all happened too quickly.

The wolf cavalry soldiers were mostly geared in ﬁne leather armour, but how could their leather armour possibly guard them from the titanium alloy arrows! The Overlord Bows of the Peerless Battalion soldiers were not as high quality as Zhou Weiqing’s Overlord Bow, not only did they not have any sockets, the explosive or piercing effect they held was no match for Zhou Weiqing’s one as well. Even so, it was more than sufﬁcient against these ordinary Wolf Cavalry Soldiers.

Along with the series of explosions, the entire front row of the Wolf Cavalry soldiers felled like wheat being harvested. Just from this round of shooting, at least three hundred Wolf Cavalry soldiers had been killed, even their war wolves had not escaped the fate. This was also because many of the arrows had struck those in front, sparing those behind. There were also some of the Peerless Battalion soldiers who were too nervous from being in such a massive battle for the ﬁrst time, and had lost accuracy or range.

The ﬁrst salvo had been launched, and Zhou Weiqing remained impassive as he planted the ﬂag solidly into the ground. At the same time, he passed the command to Hua Feng.

Hua Feng shouted out loud: “Second Ladder Formation, ﬁre.

Begin.” The Ladder Formation type of shooting was a specialised shooting style that was developed to accompany the Reverse Triangle Formation that the eight Companies were in. They would begin shooting as hundred men units, starting from the center spreading to the sides, forming a continuous rain of arrows.

A large portion of the Peerless Battalion soldiers’ training was to shoot arrows, and after seeing the effect of the ﬁrst salvo of arrows, all their excitement had been sparked. Drawing their bows once more, arrows ﬂew out accompanied by their shrill cries, as if swarms of locusts descending down upon the Swift Wolf Regiment.

“Quick, change formation, charge at maximum speed!” Butler howled in rage. He could not in his wildest dreams imagined that he would lose so many tribesmen just at the ﬁrst meeting with this enemy.

How was this possible?! How could this be?! They are still so far away, what kind of bow can have such a terrifying range and power?

At this point, their distance was even closer than before, and Butler could clearly see the Peerless Battalion soldiers. In the glow of the sunlight, the titanium alloy mail shone with a resplendent gleam, and yet in the midst of that beautiful bright lights, the shrill cries of the arrows being released was like a death knell sounding.

It was only by the time the second salvo was released that the Swift Wolf Regiment ﬁnally reformed their formation successfully. Due to their large numbers, they were unable to move in a single straight row. However, they were all experienced ﬁghters, and under the leadership of Butler, they quickly made the right choice.

The entire Swift Wolf Regiment had ten Battalions, and the Battalion Commanders, Vice Battalion Commanders and Company Leaders all charged to the very front. All the Wolf Cavalry Soldiers charged in a single ﬁle behind their respective leaders, shouting out their chieftain’s name, also the incantation that would invoke their bloodline powers: “Butler! Butler! Butler!”

The power of the Wolf Cavalry Soldiers and their War Wolf mounts exploded forth in that moment, as all the ofﬁcers were in a row, waving their sabres in their hands as they charged forward in the lead.

The valiant ferocity of the members of the WanShou Empire showed itself clearly now; as the Regiment Commander, Butler also charged forward right in front and center of the entire Regiment, urging his gold war wolf mount as quickly as possibly in a crazed charge towards the Peerless Battalion.

In the WanShou Empire, in order to become an ofﬁcer, one had to be a powerhouse. All their Company Leaders were all Heavenly Jewel Masters, though most of them did not have many Consolidated Equipment. At the Battalion Commander level, they were at least Heavenly Jewel Masters of the fourth or ﬁfth Jewel stage, with about one or two Consolidated Equipment at most.

With all of them charging in that formation, it was difﬁcult for even the arrows from Consolidated Bows to hurt them. As such, the majority of the third salvo of arrows from the Peerless Battalion was blocked.

A cold smile crossed Hua Feng’s lips. This method again?

They already used that the last time.

“Everyone, angle upwards thirty degrees. Projectile motion shooting. Ready, shoot!”

With the change in orders, all the Peerless Battalion soldiers swapped to projectile shooting, their arrows arcing into the air in a perfect parabolic curve, crossing the powerhouses of the Swift Wolf Regiment in the front, and landing accurately on the Wolf Cavalry soldiers behind.

The Consolidated arrows were extremely powerful and destructive, and just after a few rounds of shooting, the Swift Wolf Regiment had lost another thousand men.

Butler’s heart was bleeding. He now understood why the three Companies he had dispatched out previously had disappeared without a trace. As a Upper Level Zong Stage Heavenly Jewel Master, how could he not see that those arrows were ﬁlled with Heavenly Energy, most likely even ﬁred from a Consolidated Weapon. Yet, in his memory, the ZhongTian Empire had never had such a army unit like that. What kind of power did those bows have?! That was a thousand yard distance, what kind of bow had that kind of range and power? Even up to now, he had not realised that all thousand over soldiers of the Peerless Battalion in front of him were Jewel Masters, though he could not be blamed for that. After all, it was quite inconceivable.

Hearing the horrible screams from the back, Butler was bursting to charge deep into the Peerless Battalion formation to slaughter them all. However, he was after all still mortal, not a god. Even though he had a Upper Level Zong Stage cultivation level, he was still eight hundred yards from the Peerless Battalion, and he could not do anything.

No matter how fast the Wolf Cavalry Soldiers were, they could not just charge a hundred yards as their enemies shot a salvo. With their current speed, by the time they could reach them, the Peerless Battalion would at least have the chance to shoot more than twenty rounds.

Although the ordinary Peerless Battalion soldiers were far from being god tier archers, this half year of tough training under top classed teachers had given them all a decent accuracy. Furthermore, as their enemies came closer and closer, so did their accuracy improve.

“Fire Arrows. Get ready!” Hua Feng shouted out loud.

Amongst all the newly Awakened Jewel Masters, it was without a doubt that there were far fewer Elemental Jewels Masters than Physical Jewel Masters. Even so, with the aid of the precious medicines, over a thousand Jewel Masters had Awakened their Personal Power Jewels, and there were over sixty Elemental Jewel Masters who had Awakened from that. Of them, a majority were of the Fire Attribute, totally thirty six. Hua Feng had specially taken them aside out of the usual Companies and assigned them under the Cannon Gao Shen’s tutelage, and under his direction in combat.

These Elemental Jewel Masters did not have Consolidated Equipment Bows, but they all had Stored one Skill. The Stored Skill was all the same for them, just a two-Star Rated Skill, Explosive Fireball. Normally, what they trained under Gao Shen was how to imbue this Explosive Fireball onto their arrows. Their arrows were all specially crafted, not only was the tip made of titanium alloy, even the entire shaft was. Due to their weaker physiques and lack of a Consolidated Equipment Bow, their range of accuracy was only a two hundred yard range, but without a doubt in terms of area of effect offensive power, these thirty six were the greatest weapon in the entire Peerless battalion.

A merciless smirk crossed Gao Shen’s lips. To be gifted the nickname of Cannon, an experienced hand like him naturally knew the best time to release these Fire Arrows. He had been waiting all this time for their time.

Chapter 146 One versus One | Butler!

Ten salvos of concentrated ﬁring from the Consolidated Bows later, the notorious Swift Wolf Regiment that struck fear in the northern borders, had suffered an unprecedented blow. Before they had even started ﬁghting with their enemies, they had already lost twenty percent of their numbers, with over two thousand Wolf Cavalry soldiers losing their lives under the onslaught of Consolidated Bows. At this point, the ofﬁcers of the Swift Wolf Regiment were about ﬁve hundred yards from the Peerless Battalion.

However, at this moment, the salvo from the Peerless Battalion halted momentarily. Most of the soldiers had ran out of Heavenly energy, and their Consolidated Bows vanished. They took out their ordinary longbows, but that required some time.

After all, the majority of the Peerless Battalion soldiers had only just Awakened their Jewels with the help of the medicine and Shangguan Fei’er and the others’ Heavenly Energy, barely at a single Jewel cultivation level. Being able to shoot ten arrows with their Consolidated Bows was their absolute limit. Of course, there were a still few who had not started shooting yet; they were currently standing ready behind Hua Feng. They were the special forces or commandos of the Peerless Battalion. Although these special forces soldiers usually trained individually, they still belonged to their respective Companies, just that they would be transferred out during actual combat. There were eighty of them in total, and the seven god archers of the Heavenly Bow Unit were in charge of them. Of course, the thirty six Fire Attribute Elemental Jewel Masters were also amongst them, seven were Heavenly Jewel Masters, and the rest were the other Elemental Jewel Masters.

The seven Heavenly Jewel Masters had also just Awakened not long ago, and without question, their future potential was much greater. Although they were already past the age of twenty, a Heavenly Jewel Master was still a Heavenly Jewel Master. These people were naturally separated out for their training, and they would be the future pillars for the Peerless Battalion.

The longbows continued ﬁring, arrow after arrow. However, without the Consolidated Bows and the support of Heavenly Energy, their power had dropped drastically. Having unleashed their bloodline power, the defensive capabilities of the Wolf Cavalry soldiers had raised substantially, and it would take at least a dozen of these ordinary arrows to kill one. As such, the death count of the Swift Wolf Regiment dropped. After losing a total of two thousand and ﬁve hundred men, they ﬁnally charged to three hundred yards of the Peerless Battalion. Zhou Weiqing sat on his Single Horned Ghost Demon Horse, not making a sound, after all his soldiers were now listening to Hua Feng’s command. His gaze was focused right on the front of the Swift Wolf Regiment, the massive gold war wolf and its rider, Butler. Without question, he also knew that this had to

be the Regiment Commander of the Swift Wolf Regiment. From the ferocious aura that this person was giving forth, Zhou Weiqing could sense how powerful he was.

He had to be at least at the eight Jeweled cultivation level. This was Zhou Weiqing’s judgement of Butler. His own personal mission was simple – that was to take on Butler as long as possible and not allow him to have his way in slaughtering the Peerless Battalion soldiers. As such, he did not take action and ﬁre like his soldiers, instead waiting silently there.

“Battalion Commander, that gold war wolf mount is not simple at all. Something like that is at least a Zong Stage Heavenly Beast… extremely powerful in its own right. A warrior who can use it as a mount, he can only be even stronger.” Wei Feng said in a low tone, reminding Zhou Weiqing at his side.

On the battleﬁeld, personal strength might not easily inﬂuence the outcome, but personal strength could easily bring up their side’s morale.

Also, when personal strength was so huge up to a point, then it would deﬁnitely be able to inﬂuence the outcome.

“Don’t worry. Leave him to me. The rest of them are all of yours. Teacher Hua Feng, that gold war wolf and his rider in front of their pack is mine. The rest of them, I leave it up to you and your special forces.”

Hua Feng looked at Zhou Weiqing deeply. How could he not see Butler’s power? Yet, at this moment, he could not possibly doubt Zhou Weiqing’s decisions, or go against his orders. Zhou Weiqing was the head of the Peerless Battalion, and at this point on the battleﬁeld, his orders were everything; even if he thought they were wrong, he could not go against it or it would cause chaos amongst the men, affecting morale, and possibly even causing all their deaths. There were still seven thousand more Wolf Cavalry soldiers, seven thousand enraged wolf cavalry soldiers, and none of them would suspect how cruel and terrifying these angry wolf cavalry soldiers could be. Once they managed to charge to the front of their own formation and begin melee combat, then this ﬁght would be totally over for them pretty quickly. In Zhou Weiqing’s plan, there should be no melee combat. Although the close combat prowess and power of the Peerless Battalion soldiers had improved by leaps and bounds under the tutelage of Shangguan Fei’er, once melee combat started, too many variables would be introduced, the difﬁculty increased, and it was likely that injuries and death would occur. All of that would be counter to Zhou Weiqing’s original motive, to improve and allow his Peerless Battalion to grow stronger, and to improve their morale.

Another round of arrows, and the enemies charged closer again.

Butler, charging right at the head of the pack with his gold war wolf mount, could now be seen clearly. His war wolf exploded in a fresh burst of speed, like a bolt of gold light speeding in a straight line, far surpassing his men by at least a hundred yards as he charged towards the enemy’s line, bloodlust in his eyes as he ﬁxated upon his target.

Naturally, Butler had also noticed Zhou Weiqing earlier, seated atop his Single Horned Ghost Demon Horse as he waited for him, tall and stout with the aura of command, proudly awaiting him, clearly indicating his status. “Kill!” Butler howled in rage, his blood boiling within from the sheer anger. He truly believed that as long as he managed to charge within the enemy’s formation, it was not impossible to ﬁnish them all off. After all, he was at the nine-Jeweled cultivation level, a Upper Level Zong Stage Heavenly Jewel Master! The enemy only numbered a thousand ﬁve hundred or so, and he estimated they did not have anyone as powerful as himself.

At last, Zhou Weiqing reacted, his right hand slowly lifting up towards Butler. They were still about a hundred and ﬁfty yards from each other, and as soon as the gap between them was at a hundred yards, they would be able to attack each other. As such, he chose such a time to reveal his own aura.

With a loud clash, his titanium alloy mail was cast aside, revealing his naked upper body, the healthy bronzed muscles shimmering in the bright sunlight.

Zhou Weiqing shouted out loud, and in the next moment, he charged forward like an arrow shot from a bow. His charge, so straightforward, so valiant, and in midair a killing intent ﬁlled with death defying resolution exploded forth.

For any troop of army, the character of the leading general would deﬁnitely have a great effect on the entire troop. Zhou Weiqing’s sudden eruption and his fearless charge towards the enemy’s strongest powerhouse… in that instant, it caused the entire Peerless Battalion’s morale and will to ﬁght to be raised to the maximum.

Their ﬁring rates increased noticeably, and under Hua Feng’s direction, all their projectile arcing arrows all avoided Zhou Weiqing’s direction, avoiding any possibility of an accidental injury.

Still in midair, Zhou Weiqing’s body started to shift, as the magniﬁcent tiger tattoos appeared on his skin, the thick black- grey colour appearing instantly across every inch of his body, as a powerful overbearing aura burst forth like a king surveying his subjects. His muscles bulged and his eyes turned bloodshot as he seemed to soar higher into the air like a demon god descending.

That was not the only thing. At the same time as his body entered the Demonic Change State, a shimmering illusory purple red ﬁgure appeared around his back. It was the Heavenly Skill Image of the Demonic Dragon Lady!

The majority of the soldiers on both sides would not know what the Heavenly Skill Image actually meant, but how could the charging, ferocious Butler not know? As a Nine Jeweled Heavenly Jewel Master, he had once ascended the Heavenly Snow Mountain. The Heavenly Skill Image was an unreachable target of power in his heart.

The sudden burst of power and aura along combined the Heavenly Skill Image of Demonic Dragon Lady was like a bucket of ice cold water pouring suddenly on Butler’s original powerful bloodlust, causing a chill to run down his spine. Even more shockingly, his war wolf mount companion suddenly slowed down abruptly, and he could sense it was shivering in fear.

Without knowing why, at that moment, Butler suddenly sensed a terrifying aura… one that he had only once sensed previously from the great Heavenly Snow Mountain Lord… an aura that caused him want to fall to his knees in supplication. In that instant, his heart was ﬁlled with fear.

Alas for him, due to the distance they were at, and the sudden powerful aura that burst forth from Zhou Weiqing, he did not notice that the number of Heavenly Jewels around his wrist was a mere four.

Of course, in truth Zhou Weiqing in the Demonic Change State, how could his aura be that of Four-Jeweled stage only? Butler’s senses did not fool him, after all just from the bloodline quality difference alone, Zhou Weiqing’s Dark Demon God Tiger was at least equal or higher than even the Divine Heavenly Spirit Tiger. Furthermore, he had the aura of the Solidiﬁed Dragon Spirit within him. Although he was unable to access the power of the Solidiﬁed Dragon Spirit, it did not change the fact that the aura had already been integrated within him, especially when he unleashed the Demonic Change State without holding back, it was naturally let loose as well.

A cold light was in Zhou Weiqing’s eyes, and in that moment he was immersed in a strange feeling.

That unique feeling had started when the Peerless Battalion soldiers had been shooting his arrows, and it had been accumulating ever since. Along with the shrill cries of the Consolidated Bows, the blood within his body felt as if it had been ignited, and now his eyes were only for that single foe before him. As a result, Zhou Weiqing was able to bring his aura to a maximum as soon as Butler came within range.

Before he had come to this northern border, if he had met a nine-Jeweled cultivation level enemy, Zhou Weiqing would only have one choice – turn tail and run. The gap between the two was just too huge. However, ever since he had come to the border, he had not only become the disciple of the Six Ultimate Heavenly Emperor, he had also personally faced off against a Heavenly King Stage powerhouse. Although at that point he had not been the main person to take on his blows, after having experienced a powerhouse at a whole different level, he no longer held fear in his heart when facing a Zong Stage powerhouse. Furthermore, towards this ﬁght before him, he

had prepared so much for it. As Zhou Weiqing had expected, the gold war wolf mount stopped in its tracks, and when Butler looked on in surprise at the Heavenly Skill Image behind Zhou Weiqing, he did not hesitate to release all his Consolidated Equipment in preparation.

At this point, it showed the true difference between the WanShou Empire and the ZhongTian Empire. Without question, the WanShou Empire had powerful beastmen warriors with terrifying personal power. In terms of ordinary soldiers, the ZhongTian Empire might need at least ten to face off against one of the WanShou Empire’s soldiers to be able to hold their own. However, in terms of the higher ranked powerhouses, it was totally different.

In terms of numbers of Heavenly Jewel Masters, the WanShou Empire was actually only slightly less than the ZhongTian Empire. However, in terms of quality, it was quite a major difference. The greatest reason came from Consolidated Equipment and Stored Skills.

Just like all other Empires, Consolidating Equipment Masters were an extremely rare commodity in the WanShou Empire. On the other hand, with the Heavenly Jewel Island as their backbone, especially the Consolidating Equipment Pavilion there, the ZhongTian Empire had an advantage that no other Empire held.

This Butler was already a nine-Jeweled powerhouse, but he could only unleash seven Consolidated Equipment at once. More importantly, they were not Sets at all, just seven loose pieces. The best one was the heavy spiked mace in his hands, a Zong Stage Consolidated Equipment. As for his other six, there were even High Level Consolidated Equipment, and a Mid Level Consolidated Equipment, with only two Grandmaster Consolidated Equipment that was still relatively decent. Unleashing seven Consolidated Equipment at once might seem scary, but in truth, their boost to Butler was not too huge, especially considering his current level.

“Who are you…” Butler shouted out loud. Facing a Heavenly Skill Image, he was no fool, how could he possibly charge forward without thought. Alas, the Heavenly Skill Image also caused him to totally neglect Zhou Weiqing’s age.

Zhou Weiqing gave a cold laugh and said: “I am the Peerless Battalion Battalion Commander, Zhou Weiqing. Remember my name…” A killing intent ﬂashed in his eyes. Seeing that his opponent did not come to him, Zhou Weiqing charged forward towards Butler instead. At this moment, his Dragon Silencing Seal was already fully prepared and ready to strike at any instant. He would not allow the same thing that had happened to him during the ﬁght against Han Tianyou to happen again for this ﬁght he had prepared for so long.

A ferocious light ﬂashed in Butler’s eyes. He was after all the Regiment Commander of the Swift Wolf Regiment, and at this point his bloodlust and ferocity was fully evoked. Forcing his gold war wolf mount forward, he charged forth to face Zhou Weiqing head on.

However, at the same time, the Swift Wolf Regiment who were behind Butler had run into great trouble.

Butler had charged forth all by himself towards Zhou Weiqing, and not long after he had done so, the rest of the Swift Wolf Regiment had only reached about one hundred and ﬁfty yards from the Peerless Battalion formation. The war wolf mounts began to lose their balance, stumbling as they fell into traps, large trenches that had been prepared and set beforehand.

With an Earth Attribute Heavenly Jewel Master like Lin TianAo on their side, it was an easy task to open a wide trench like that, especially with the help of over a thousand Peerless Battalion Soldiers. That was the reason why Zhou Weiqing had chosen this place to hold their ground and ﬁght. It would also allow the Swift Wolf Regiment to see their low numbers and in such a case, they would not split their forces and just attack head on.

The trenches were about thirty metres wide, and even with the war wolf mounts’ powerful leaping capabilities, they would not be able to jump across. The depth of the trenches was only six metres, but they were ﬁlled with many ‘surprises’. For example, many sharp spikes, brimstone, dried grass, ﬁre oils and other easily ﬂammable substances.

The over one hundred ofﬁcers of the Swift Wolf Regiment were Heavenly Jewel Masters, with Company Commanders around two to three Jeweled cultivation level, Battalion Commanders around four to ﬁve Jeweled cultivation level. Alas, they had the same problem with the lack of Consolidated Equipment. The hundred or so of them were charging in a single row in order to block the arrows from the front, using their Heavenly Energy. As a result, by the time they had reached the trenches, the few hidden soldiers below just needed to release the trapdoors to unleash the full power of the trap.

Over a hundred ofﬁcers fell into the trap instantly. The reason why Zhou Weiqing had allowed Butler to come to him without setting off the traps was simple. With Butler’s power, the trench would be totally useless to him, and he could help his ofﬁcers out easily. It would be much better to let him through and ﬁght him head on, which would also have the added beneﬁt of increasing the morale of his Peerless Battalion troops at the same time.

Hua Feng had already calculated the distance, and at the same moment that the enemy ofﬁcers crashed down into the trap, he had already given the order.

The thirty six Fire Attribute Elemental Jewel Masters shot out the arrow they had prepared for this time… a titanium alloy full arrow imbued with the Explosive Fireball. They did not have any Consolidated Bows to help them, so their Explosive Fireball would start burning the Titanium Arrows. This was the reason why the trap had to be set at a one hundred and ﬁfty yard distance, not any further. After all, that was the distance that their ﬁre arrows could be sustained at an accurate measure.

The war wolves of the ofﬁcers were deﬁnitely of the highest quality, and even as they fell into the traps, they still managed to somewhat maintain their balance. Their defensive capabilities were also pretty decent with their tough fur, but no matter what they would not be able to ﬁght against the physics of gravity and inertia.

In a short period of time, the trench was ﬁlled with pained cries and shrill screams. Although not many of the Swift Wolf Regiment ofﬁcers were actually injured, most of their war wolf mounts had died from the sharp spikes, or were heavily injured. Some luckier ones who had avoided the spikes still had their bones broken from the fall.

These ofﬁcers were old hands on the battleﬁeld, and even with such a sudden blow to them, they knew better than to attempt to save their beloved war wolf mounts. They all knew that staying in the trap would possibly mean their deaths. Let alone what their enemies could do, their own men would be charging forth soon, and at such speeds, they would not be able to stop in time. If they fell on top of them, even as Heavenly Jewel Masters, these ofﬁcers would not enjoy such treatment.

Alas, just as they were preparing to react, the well prepared thirty six Explosive Fireball arrows struck down with precise accuracy into the trap.

A whole series of explosions, and ﬂames blazed high up into the air. The ﬂammable and explosive materials in the trap were overabundant, especially with brimstone and ﬁre oil added together, increasing the spread of ﬁre and burning. Ignited by the powerful Explosive Fireballs, with loud booms, a wall of ﬂame rose up across the entire trench, even reaching seven or eight metres tall.

Some of the faster ofﬁcers still managed to jump out in time, but there were those slower ones who had either been knocked back down into the trench by the Explosive Fireball arrows, or were just swallowed by the rising ﬂames as they tried to jump.

Those Battalion Commanders were still able to use their Heavenly Energy to barely protect themselves, but the Company Leaders were not so lucky. Their Heavenly Energy was not strong enough to protect them from such an onslaught of ﬂames, and as the saying goes, the elements have no mercy upon mankind. In that instant, over twenty of the ofﬁcers were swallowed up by the ﬂames and perished. Even those surviving ofﬁcers had lost all their war wolf mounts.

This ﬁre trap was just too perfect, and this plan was not from Zhou Weiqing, but from Mu En. In terms of sly cunning, who could compare to this God Eye Scoundrel?

The true reason of the ﬁre was not to kill the ofﬁcers, but to cause them to lose all their war wolves. Towards the unique charging formation of the Swift Wolf Regiment, the Peerless Battalion ofﬁcers had already witnessed it for themselves so many times, and it was all part of their plan. In order to block their arrows, they knew their enemies would deﬁnitely make use of this formation once more. With this ﬁre, those strongest ofﬁcers had now lost their greatest asset – their speed.

Furthermore, this trap and ﬁre wall would also slow down the remaining Wolf Cavalry soldiers behind. After all, they would not be able to vault across such a wide trench of thirty metres, and they could only pass around.

This would give the Peerless Battalion soldiers time to retreat.

“Retreat…” Hua Feng’s order came without hesitation, following their plan to the letter. His orders did not include the eighty ‘special forces’. Previously, they had been saving their strength, and this was their time to explode with all their might. Their task was not just to snipe down as many ofﬁcers as they could, but also to cover their comrades’ retreat.

The Peerless Battalion did not have many warhorses, but their running speed was not to be underestimated. Following Hua Feng’s shouted orders, all of them turned to run without hesitation, springing towards the hills where their ‘home’ had been. As for the seven Heavenly Bow Unit masters, they continued waiting there silently with the special forces unit. They were not in a rush to retreat; after all, they all had warhorses as mounts. Although not all were Ghost Demon Horses, it would not be a problem for them to retreat easily.

Without a doubt, the combination of trench and ﬁre wall had disrupted the steadfast charge of the Swift Wolf Regiment, causing some chaos amongst the ranks. At least a few dozen wolf cavalry soldiers on the second row had been charging too quickly, and they had not been able to stop in time, falling down into the trench trap as well. Sadly for them, they did not have the same power as their ofﬁcers, and it was instant death for these ordinary wolf cavalry soldiers.

Butler had been separated from his troops by the trench at his back, and as the wall of ﬂame rose, the ﬁght between him and Zhou Weiqing ﬁnally started.

Zhou Weiqing pounced towards Butler, and in midair, he did something that Butler could not understand. With the power of his right leg, Zhou Weiqing had jumped up high, but Butler did not see any weapons in his hands, instead Zhou Weiqing’s right foot came crashing down upon him.

Although Zhou Weiqing had spent the last six months training in the Six Ultimate Skill Manipulation Arts, it would take him a far higher cultivation level to be able to use it to unleash a greater power. As such, in terms of current actual combat, his ﬁghting style was not very different from previously, just that his control over Heavenly Energy and his own Stored Skills had been greatly improved, and he would not waste a single drop of Heavenly Energy.

Is this little brat crazy? He’s actually trying to attack me with his leg? That was Butler’s exact thought at the moment. After all, he was currently holding a massive 2.2 metre long spiked mace, the thickest portion on top even thicker than his own thigh and covered with a layer of terrifying looking sharp spikes. Even a thick block of steel would be smashed apart by his spiked mace, let alone Zhou Weiqing’s mere ﬂesh and bone. Now that they were so close, Butler had ﬁnally seen the four Heavenly Jewels around Zhou Weiqing’s wrist. His heart was ﬁlled with shame and irritating, as a Upper Level Zong Stage Master, he had actually been afraid of a mere four-Jeweled Low Level Zun Stage Master! That little brat’s Heavenly Skill Image must be a fake, how could a four-Jeweled Master have a Skill that only a Heavenly God Tier Master could have? As for his gold war wolf mount’s shivering, he rationalized it by attributing it to Zhou Weiqing’s Demonic Change State aura. The only puzzling thing to him now was that… could it be the Heavenly Demon Sect had started cooperating with the ZhongTian Empire? Even if that was so, the Five Great Saint Lands were not supposed to join in ordinary wars. That was breaking the agreement between the Great Saint Lands!

All these thoughts ﬂashed in Butler’s heart in that instant, and Zhou Weiqing had already arrived before him, not allowing him anymore time to think deeper and further on that. With a cruel light in his eyes, he swung the massive spiked club in his hands in a wide sweep. At the same time, he invoked a Bloodthirst Skill, causing his already immense strength to grow further.

For Butler, being chosen to be honoured to ascend the Heavenly Snow Mountain was not just some dumb luck, nor was it only because he was the heir to the wolfman tribe. Furthermore, his Elemental Jewel was of the Darkness Attribute. Although the WanShou Empire had a severe disadvantage in terms of Consolidated Equipment, they had a rich natural advantage in terms of Storing Skill. With the Ten Thousand Beast Heavens, the highest echelons of Heavenly Jewel Masters of the WanShou Empire would not lack good Skills to Store.

Once again, another enemy had underestimated Zhou Weiqing. On seeing the mere four Heavenly Jewels, Butler only chose to use his ﬁrst Jewel’s Elemental Skill, one that he had Stored so many years ago, the Bloodthirst Skill. Of course, though it was a lower ranked one, it had also grown with him to the nine-Jeweled stage, instantly giving him a burst of strength and killing intent. Seeing Zhou Weiqing’s leg careening down, in Butler’s eyes, if Zhou Weiqing did not have any Skill or change in direction, that leg would undoubtedly be instantly destroyed by his spiked club. Furthermore, he had prepared another Skill to use in case Zhou Weiqing had a backup plan once their strikes met, then his powerful Darkness Skill would be unleashed unhesitatingly to give Zhou Weiqing a massive blow. He wanted to kill this little brat as quickly as possible before charging into the enemy ranks to slaughter them and take revenge for his fallen tribesmen. Butler’s calculations were not bad, and his judgement was not wrong as well. Zhou Weiqing did indeed have a backup plan. Alas for Butler, that backup plan was far beyond his expectations.

A purple red vortex appeared stealthily over Butler’s head before anyone knew what had happened. When the purple red light stained his entire body, it was also at the instant that his large spiked mace was about to impact with Zhou Weiqing’s right leg.

In the next moment, Butler was totally stunned. To his shock, his spiked mace disappeared before his eyes. It was not just his spiked mace, as all his Consolidated Equipment did so as well, and along with that was the powerful Skill that he had prepared. In that instant, he seemed to have lost his link with them.

No matter how powerful a Heavenly Jewel Master was, to meet with something so inexplicable so suddenly, one would deﬁnitely be affected in some way, and a momentary pause of shock was unavoidable. This was all part of Zhou Weiqing’s plan and expectations, and his right leg continued downward without pause, without any holding back. Butler was truly a seasoned warrior who had been through many battles, and after a split second of being stunned, he recovered swiftly, realising something was off. At this time, it was too late for him to do anything else, and almost totally subconsciously, his arms lifted upwards in a block. He had lost his Consolidated Equipment and access to Stored Skills, but he could still use his powerful Heavenly Energy, and it burst forth immediately, covering his arms in white as they crossed in a lock to block Zhou Weiqing’s right leg.

Another loud explosion, and Zhou Weiqing was sent ﬂying back, while Butler’s entire body shook violently. He could feel the bones of both his arms creaking with the sheer impact. Although his powerful Heavenly Energy had protected his arms from being broken by that downward kick from Zhou Weiqing, the terrifyingly powerful impact from the Demonic Right Leg, in his Demonic Change State, still caused both his arms to hurt. Furthermore, that power had been sent right through him all the way down to the gold war wolf below him, and its legs buckled and it crashed to the ground.

Ever since Zhou Weiqing had charged forward, that gold war wolf had lost its awe inspiring dignity and valiant look. It dared not even attack Zhou Weiqing; after all, it had only just reached the Zong Stage, and the aura around Zhou Weiqing could affect even a powerful Heavenly Beast like the Silver Emperor, let alone itself. The poor gold war wolf could not even bring forth thirty percent of its usual power.

Just as Butler was reeling in shock from the blow, as well as why his Consolidated Equipment and Stored Skills were blocked off from him, he suddenly felt a strange sensation on his arms. At that point, his Heavenly Energy protective aura had almost been shattered by Zhou Weiqing’s kick, and as soon as that strange sensation appeared, he quickly looked down.

A tiny little pearl, glowing blue, black and grey in a strange swirl, was now stuck on his arm. When he looked at it, he could clearly see that the last dredges of his Heavenly Energy protective aura was eaten away by that strange pearl, opening a small hole in it, and the pearl wormed its way in.

Butler was not Han Tianyou after all, and furthermore he did not have any knowledge of the true power of the Dark Demon God Lightning, nor had he experienced it for himself yet. As such, he naturally would not cut off his arms to cut his losses just like that. Another violent explosion shook the entire battleﬁeld, and even the wolf cavalry soldiers on the other side of the ﬁre wall could clearly see the strange tri-coloured glow that rose all around Butler. Butler was sent ﬂying back from his gold war wolf by the abrupt explosion from the Dark Demon God Lightning. However, the explosion did not bring him any additional pain, instead a bone chilling cold.

The Dark Demon God Lightning was the most overbearing Yin-type Lightning, and the power generated after its explosion would only invade the enemy’s body and innards. If it were any ordinary person, or someone with lower cultivation than Zhou Weiqing, the process of the explosion and the invasion would be enough to cause the person to melt into sludge.

However, it was unlikely that Zhou Weiqing would use this overbearing Skill against anyone weaker. Butler was after all a Nine-Jeweled powerhouse, and his meridian passageways had all been reﬁned by over thirty levels of Heavenly Energy, and he was much tougher and stronger than any ordinary person. As a result, the Tri-Attribute Venom from the Dark Demon God Lightning could only enter his body slowly, attempting to circulate around.

A cold shiver ran over Butler’s body, and he truly started to feel fear. Without hesitation, he punched out towards Zhou Weiqing, the thick Heavenly Energy causing the air to compress and explode outwards. Although Zhou Weiqing was at a distance of over twenty yards due to both of them being sent ﬂying back, he could still feel the powerful backlash from that blow.

The gap between the Heavenly Energy and power levels of two were just too huge. Perhaps if Zhou Weiqing unleashed his Yin Yang Giant Spirit Palms and used their Consolidating Equipment God Protective Aura, he could barely block the blow. However, would he really do such a thing? As the disciple of the God Eye Scoundrel, he would not do something so foolish like that.

In a ﬂash of silver, Zhou Weiqing appeared ten yards to the side, and the ﬁst of power from Butler naturally missed him. When Butler wanted to attack once more, the cold within his body abruptly ﬂared up, growing stronger, and he did not dare continue attacking.

He could not possibly know what this Dark Demon God Lightning was, but he could sense that it deﬁnitely posed a threat to his life. Howling in rage, he summoned the gold war wolf to his side and he leaped onto it. This time, he did not charge towards Zhou Weiqing anymore, instead turning to ﬂee. The impression that Zhou Weiqing gave him was just a single one… Abnormal. That’s right, abnormal, just too strange indeed. A mere four-Jeweled Heavenly Jewel Master, yet he could actually injure him… that sheer strength of his was just too overbearing. Even if he had the Demonic Change State, the gap between their Heavenly Energy was just too huge, yet he was still able to use his strength and skills to injure Butler. In that moment, Butler felt a sense of foreboding. He had also seen the wall of ﬂames behind him, and as a leader, being separated from his own troops was yet another factor in that sense of unease. At this point, if another powerhouse came to attack him, he might be doomed. With all the factors combined, Butler did not hesitate to turn and ﬂee. Who said that a beastmen would deﬁnitely be stupid? When it truly came down to life and death, sometimes face was not that important.

Seeing Butler turn tail and run, Zhou Weiqing did not give chase. Currently, he was panting with ragged breath, his chest tight and seized up, and his vital energy within was disrupted and in a mess, almost causing him to vomit out blood. His ‘single’ strike might have seemed easy enough, but it was a combination of many Skills and calculation, and it had taken a huge toll on him, especially on his spirit and vigour. Furthermore, the difference between the two of their power levels was just too huge, even with the Demonic Right Leg in the Demonic Change State, he had actually been injured by the reverberations and backlash of the impact. Luckily, his goal had only been to land the Dark Demon God Lightning on his enemy, not to truly clash head on. Otherwise, as a four-Jeweled Heavenly Jewel Master against a Nine-Jeweled Heavenly Jewel Master, he knew he did not stand a chance.

Butler had not lost in terms of strength, but in terms of strategy and underestimating his foe, allowing all of this which had happened to do so. He was also the ﬁrst Heavenly Jewel Master to actually take the full power of the Dark Demon God Lightning head on.

As Zhou Weiqing fought in more battles and cultivated further, his combat experience was already considerable. Especially in terms of ﬁghting against those stronger than himself, his experience in that was truly impressive, and he had already formed a set of methods for him to deal with that. Zhou Weiqing was clear what his advantages were – to catch others by surprise. He had just too many abilities and Skills that were far beyond the common knowledge of most Heavenly Jewel Masters. For example, his Demonic Change State, Demonic Right Leg, Dark Demon God Lightning, and even the Dragon Silencing Seal.

Zhou Weiqing understood that such powerhouses like Butler, as nine-Jeweled Heavenly Jewel Masters, they were not just powerful, but also had much combat experience. As soon as Butler was familiarized with his own powers, approaches and styles, then he would stand no chance at all. As such, he could only use his advantages to the maximum, unleashing his all in a short period of time to damage his enemy.

Of course, even Zhou Weiqing had not expected his plan to work this well. He had never dreamed that just by unleashing the Demonic Change State and the Heavenly Skill Image, he had already given his foe a huge scare, causing Butler to make several errors in judgement. Furthermore, the effect of the Dragon Silencing Seal was just too overbearing, and with all his preparation in that, he had succeeded just so ﬁnely, causing Butler to take such a huge disadvantage at once.

In truth, Zhou Weiqing’s plan was pretty good, but he had forgotten one thing. He had crafted it with Han Tianyou in mind, but he was after all a Heavenly King Stage powerhouse, and more so, one who had come from a Great Saint Lands. In terms of ability, vision and judgement calls, how could the wolfman tribe leader Butler be compared to Han Tianyou. Especially since Han Tianyou knew about him from Shen Little Demon and the other Heavenly Jewel Tournament Battle Team members. When Zhou Weiqing threw everything he had at someone, as long as he had sufﬁcient preparation, and his enemy did not have enough knowledge about him or preparation, it was truly not an easy task to not fall for his traps. Simply put, Butler had charged forth crazily and in a straightforward fashion, and in a moment of underestimating his foe, Zhou Weiqing had managed to make use of that moment to strike with all he had and poison him.

Chapter 147 Peerless Air Force!

The ﬁght between Zhou Weiqing and Butler had ended in a matter of moments. In the majority of the onlookers’ eyes, all they saw was Zhou Weiqing’s right leg striking down like an axe before being sent ﬂying back. The next thing they knew, Butler had been thrown off his war wolf, and when he got up, he mounted back on and ﬂed.

In the entire battleﬁeld, only a few could possibly know all the details that had happened. Yet, it was without question that Zhou Weiqing had come out the victor. In the eyes of the Peerless Battalion soldiers, their general had defeated the enemy general in an instant, seemingly so easily, and this was a major boost to their morale indeed. In that moment, the arrows seemed to ﬂy faster and truer, arcing across the ﬂame wall and ﬁnding their target with unerring aim.

Lin TianAo’s massive body burst out from the ground, standing right beside Zhou Weiqing, a look of surprise and respect on his face. He had been Zhou Weiqing’s backup plan. If Zhou Weiqing had not been able to succeed in defeating Butler in a short period of time, Lin TianAo would be his ace up the sleeve to block Butler. Zhou Weiqing believed that with the two of them working together, as long as his enemy was not at the Heavenly King Stage or higher, they would be able to block anyone for some time. Of course, by this point, this ace was no longer needed.

“Let’s retreat as well.” Zhou Weiqing nodded towards Lin TianAo, who also released his Ghost Demon Horse and mounted it. The two turned towards their own ranks and galloped back.

Previously, if Zhou Weiqing had let Little Red Bean loose on Butler, perhaps the two of them could have a small possibility of killing Butler. However, Zhou Weiqing knew that his current role was not just that of a Heavenly Jewel Master ﬁghting, but also a commanding ofﬁcer. As a commanding ofﬁcer, sniping an enemy commander was a good thing, but the most important thing was still to take care of the big picture and ensuring everything went well. Zhou Weiqing’s basic military knowledge might not be fully learned, but his grasp of the big picture and handling of the overall situation was far beyond ordinary. This was also the reason why he had been originally looked on favourably by the Fei Li Heavenly General Ming Yu during the academy applications.

Somewhat luckily for the Swift Wolf Regiment, none of them had seen their leader beaten; otherwise their morale would have suffered greatly. After all, the walls of ﬂame had blocked their vision. Although it was in their path, it was not too huge, and the wolf cavalry soldiers had already split into two forces to charge around it.

On the battleﬁeld, archers usually only had the advantage at the start. Even though the wolf cavalry soldiers had already lost a ﬁfth of their forces, none of them believed that they would lose the actual battle. In their eyes, as soon as they entered the Peerless Battalion ranks, the ﬁght would turn into a slaughter in their favour, and the battle would be over then.

Just as Zhou Weiqing had defeated Butler and sent him running, a fresh unit of troops appeared abruptly. The true trump card of the Peerless Battalion had ﬁnally entered the stage.

The Consolidated Wings behind Shangguan Fei’er’s back spread wide open, and the dazzling dark gold light shone brilliantly in midair. Behind her, the three hundred Peerless Battalion soldiers also extended their black Consolidated Wings. Each of them had their Consolidated Bow in their hands as well.

“Cover the retreat. Ready, and Fire!” Shangguan Fei’er’s orders were short and succinct. This was the ﬁrst time the Peerless Battalion Air Force had actually appeared on the battleﬁeld. From this advantage of height, three hundred arrows ﬂew out like lightning, and in the midst of screams, three hundred wolf cavalry soldiers were shot off their mounts.

These three hundred airborne troops of the Peerless Battalion were the true elites of the entire Battalion. All of their personal cultivation level were at least at the three Jeweled stage or higher,, and they were all Physical Jewel Masters. Hence, they were all equipped with the three Consolidated Equipment – Bow and twin Wings. Also, since they were at least at the three-Jeweled cultivation level, their Heavenly Energy had a strong and thick foundation. Not only were they able to maintain ﬂight for some time, the arrows they shot out from their Consolidated Bows were much stronger than the other Peerless Battalion soldiers. How could the Wolf Cavalry Soldiers withstand that? Three hundred arrows taking away three hundred wolf cavalry soldiers, and more so they were the ones that had reacted the fastest to turn around to surpass the ﬂame walls. Indeed, these Peerless Battalion elites’ accuracy and offensive prowess was shocking.

It was not that the Swift Wolf Regiment lacked powerhouses, however almost all of their ofﬁcers had been the ﬁrst few to enter the ﬁre wall trap, and their war wolf mounts had all perished then. In order to bypass the ﬂame wall they had to go around it, and their speed was naturally much slower now. The wolfman tribe war wolves would only listen to their personal owner, and even if they wanted to ride their subordinates’ war wolves, it would be impossible. As such, the major powerhouses of the Swift Wolf Regiment were no longer at the forefront.

This entire battle, it could be said to be perfect choreographed in their plans, added to the fact that the Swift Wolf Regiment had underestimated their enemies, resulting in the current scene happening before them. Every step of the battleﬁeld had been calculated and preplanned, down to their enemies’ reactions all the way. For the Air Force that Shangguan Fei’er was leading to appear now was planned and could be said to be the perfect timing.

Previously, they had not joined the ﬁght, and appeared now to cover their comrades’ retreat. The Wolf Cavalry soldiers did not have any anti-air capabilities, so the Air Force would be totally safe. Between the wall of ﬂames and their ﬂying comrades, the Peerless Battalion soldiers on the ground would have more than sufﬁcient time to retreat to the hillside. It could be said to be a perfect time for killing enemies and covering their comrades’ retreat.

Shangguan Fei’er did not have a Consolidated Bow of her own; it was also the ﬁrst time for her to be on a battleﬁeld of such scale, and the excitement on her face could not be hidden. Under her command, the three hundred Peerless Battalion Air Force soldiers continuously peppered the wolf cavalry soldiers who streamed from both sides of the ﬂame wall with arrows. With such a high ground advantage added to the fact they were powerful Physical Jewel Masters, it wasn’t long before a thousand Wolf Cavalry soldiers had died under their hands.

Arrows being shot from the ground might still be able to be blocked through formations, but how could one block those that were shot from above? After all, the Wolf Cavalry soldiers never used shields, and they mainly depended on their own speed and valiant strength. Alas, now, they had become live targets.

Butler had just retreated to his Wolf Cavalry soldiers, and seeing the constant barrage of arrows from above, he almost puked out blood. Howling in rage, a strong green light burst forth abruptly from his body, forming a green tornado ﬂying up into the sky towards the Peerless Battalion Air Force soldiers.

Shangguan Fei’er gave a cold smirk and said: “Ascend higher.”

The three hundred Peerless Battalion soldiers ﬂew upwards quickly. The tornado that Butler had unleashed could only reach up two hundred yards. Without a specialised anti-air Skill, it was not so easy to take care of an airborne troop. Furthermore, there was still Shangguan Fei’er leading the troop, specially to take care of such situations.

Still, Butler’s tornado skill was not totally useless. At least, the strong winds had blown away most of the arrows descending from the skies, reducing the casualty rate of the Swift Wolf Regiment drastically.

However, after unleashing this Skill, Butler could sense the cold in his body growing stronger. Although the Dragon Silencing Seal had already ended after forty seconds, he had no choice but to continuously use a large amount of Heavenly Energy to suppress the Tri-Attribute venom in his body.

The Tornado Skill ultimately had a time limit, and when it vanished, the arrow barrage resumed.

However, the short period of respite had given the ofﬁcers and other stronger members of the Swift Wolf Regiment time to react. They did not attempt to try attacking their enemies, instead launching all their ranged Skills up into the sky to block the descending arrows. For a moment, explosions rang out across the skies, and the casualty rate of the Swift Wolf Regiment dropped once more. The Swift Wolf Regiment ﬁnally got passed the ﬂame wall. However, by this time, the main force of the Peerless Battalion had retreated back to the hillside, and the Peerless Battalion Air Force were still ﬁring down from above.

Shangguan Fei’er took a look at the back, and since their mission was accomplished, she immediately shouted an order: “Switch!”

The Peerless Battalion Air Force Physical Jewel Masters did not have a high cultivation level, and using their Wings to ﬂy and the Consolidated Bow to boot was a huge toll on their Heavenly Energy. They still needed to reserve some Heavenly Energy to ﬂy back, and in order to ensure the safety of her men, Shangguan Fei’er decided to be more conservative.

Keeping their Consolidated Bows, the Peerless Battalion Air Force switched to the javelins on their back. Three hundred javelins rained down like metal forest. Four rounds in total.

These javelins did not have any imbued Skills, not even any imbued Heavenly Energy, just totally dependant on their skill and strength. However, the Peerless Battalion Air Force were at least three hundred yards high in the sky, and each of these javelins weighed about than ﬁve kilograms. With that in mind, the sheer force and impact of these javelins already held an insane killing force.

Four rounds in total, and a thousand two hundred javelins had been thrown down. Although the Swift Wolf Regiment ofﬁcers were pretty strong, but facing such a rain of attacks and without their war wolves mounts, how could they take care of all of them.

Screams rang out all around once more, with many of the wolf cavalry soldiers totally pierced through along with their war wolf mounts, pinned down to the ground as their lives ﬂed their eyes.

Shangguan Fei’er did not stay to look at the result. As soon as the four rounds of javelins were thrown, she immediately gave the order to retreat. Their Consolidated wings ﬂapping, the three hundred Air Force soldiers ﬂew back towards the hillside, leaving a sea of corpses behind them.

Butler was gnashing his teeth so hard that he almost broke them. From the start of the ﬁght, both sides had not even met, and he had already lost forty percent of his Swift Wolf Regiment, and that was not even considering the injured. Such a massive blow, even when they had fought against the main army of the ZhongTian Empire, they had never suffered such losses.

The feeling that the Peerless Battalion gave him could be simpliﬁed into two words. Strange… weird… Indeed, they did not seem overly powerful, or with some special unbeatable formation, just… strange…

Such a ﬁghting style from the Peerless Battalion was totally out of his previous experiences and expectations. Their attacks were almost unblockable, all ranged to boot.

The Swift Wolf Regiment was deﬁnitely not weak at all, but in front of the Peerless Battalion, it felt like they had all the strength in the world yet could not use any of it. That was the most terrible feeling for a ﬁghter indeed.

A harsh cry emitted from Butler’s mouth. The wolfmen tribe army usually issued their orders via these howls, and with his Heavenly Energy, the long howl could be easily heard from up to ten li away. Filled with humiliation, disgrace and unwillingness, Butler gave the order to retreat.

As the Regiment Commander of the Swift Wolf Regiment, he had to be logical and not lose himself to emotions. As such, he did not order his troops to continue charging. The Swift Wolf Regiment was just too important to his Wolfman tribe, and the entire tribe only had six such Regiments. It was because of these sixty thousand Wolf Cavalry soldiers that the Wolfman tribe was honoured as one of the greater tribes in the entire WanShou Empire.

Although the Peerless Battalion only numbered over a thousand men, they had already given the Swift Wolf Regiment just too huge a loss. Butler could not afford to lose any more! Furthermore, these cunning enemies had retreated to the hills, and such terrain would deﬁnitely be detrimental to the Wolf Cavalry soldiers ﬁghting prowess, instead increasing the prowess of archers. Who knew what other traps or ambushes they had in that area as well. As such, Butler had to make the painful but accurate choice, instead of ordering a berserk charge forward like he wanted. Even if he managed to wipe out these enemies, it would not bring back his lost tribesmen, and they might have to pay an even heavier price in order to accomplish that. Weighing all of that, he could only grit his teeth and bear the burden of shame, leading his Swift Wolf Regiment to encircle the area before heading off back into the distance, leaving a ﬁeld of corpses behind.

“The Swift Wolf Regiment retreated?” Zhou Weiqing stood on the hillside, looking curiously at the retreating ﬁgures of the Wolf Cavalry soldiers. This was the ﬁrst true battle he had actually commandeered, and though he might seem conﬁdent and stable, only he knew that his clothes were totally drenched with sweat from both exhaustion and the sheer pressure.

At his side, Wei Feng cried out excitedly: “Battalion Commander, we have won! We… we have actually defeated a Regiment of ten thousand Wolf Cavalry soldiers! We have won, we have won…”

All the Peerless Battalion soldiers were dazed momentarily, before the entire hillside erupted into cheers. Every single one of them were jumping, yelling, screaming their hearts out with excitement and glee. They had won. This was the ﬁrst true major victory of the Peerless Battalion. They were no longer the scared little turtles of the past, the Rufﬁan Battalion hiding away in the icy dredges of the north. They were now truly the Peerless Battalion, Peerless in all the lands!

The Company Leaders of the Peerless Battalion totally forgot about Zhou Weiqing’s strength, and they swarmed forward. In the next instant, Zhou Weiqing had been tossed up in the air amidst the cheers.

Indeed, it was the arrival of this young Battalion Commander, Zhou Weiqing, which had brought them all they had today. The massive change of the Peerless Battalion had all been given by Zhou Weiqing, this unbelievable joy of victory! Not only could they eat their ﬁll, dress warmly, no longer needing to suffer day and night… now they could have such honours as well.

So what if they were rufﬁans? So what if they were scoundrels? They were still human, they still had their emotions. This victory could only spark the ﬁre in their hearts, reinforcing a true sense of belonging to the Peerless Battalion, increasing their respect and love for this Battalion Commander of theirs, Zhou Weiqing.

Shangguan Fei’er also led her Peerless Battalion Air Force, which had deﬁnitely provided one of the greater contributions in the ﬁght, to land back down safely. Looking at the soldiers who were swarming about ready to throw her up in the air as well, she did not act as usual to teach them a lesson severely, instead spreading her Consolidated Wings to escape laughingly. Everyone was ﬁlled with pride and excitement, the atmosphere infectious and spreading like wildﬁre. This was a victory that belonged to all of them, a pride that they had earned indeed!

Half a year of intense training, it had undoubtedly given all of them a major boost in power, and also padded their pockets. However, sometimes proﬁt wasn’t everything. This major victory was a true treat to their spirits and morale. The WanShou Empire Wolf Cavalry soldiers, previously seemingly invincible in their eyes, actually seemed so weak now, and the battle had proven that their hard work and training had paid off indeed, all their toil was not wasted, and this sense of accomplishment was more important than anything.

The celebration continued for almost an hour before the dizzy Zhou Weiqing was ﬁnally allowed back on the ground. He gave the order to clear the battleﬁeld and for a good meal to be cooked as celebration.

In truth, Zhou Weiqing had a slight sense of regret when he saw the Swift Wolf Regiment retreat earlier. After all, he still had a whole series of follow up plans against them. The Peerless Battalion could still retreat to their tunnels to recover their Heavenly Energy, and their series of tunnels had many exits. As long as they made proper use of the terrain, using guerrilla warfare to the max, he was conﬁdent in slaughtering the entire Swift Wolf Regiment.

Butler’s wisdom and swift decision making had allowed him to keep his forces intact. Still, despite the regret, it was not a bad thing for the Peerless Battalion. At least, their underground base would still remain hidden, and there was always the possibility of using it in the future. Of course, they could no longer stay for long. They did not know if the WanShou Empire would send a larger force to take revenge.

Still, the celebratory meal had to be eaten, and many large cauldrons were brought out and ﬁres started. The war wolves that had been freshly killed on the battleﬁeld would now be a delicious meal for the Peerless Battalion soldiers.

The rich fragrance of well cooked meat wafted across the hills. The battleﬁeld had been fully cleared, and the Swift Wolf Cavalry had left behind over four thousand one hundred corpses, as well as over two thousand war wolves. Some of the war wolves who had lost their owners had ﬂed into the surroundings.

Such a battle with no losses, yet the Peerless Battalion had managed to kill almost three times their own number. More so, it had been against elite forces like the Wolf Cavalry Soldiers. It could be said that this was a magniﬁcent victory indeed.

“Battalion Commander, how about a post battle speech for us all?” Wei Feng’s emotions were still stirred, and he looked at Zhou Weiqing with a bright look in his eyes. If not for the fact that he was already very familiar with Wei Feng, Zhou Weiqing might have mistook his sexual orientation. Zhou Weiqing stood up, right beside the large ﬂag of the Peerless Battalion.

“Brothers, I will just say a few simple words, and will not keep you from your delicious meal for too long. This battle, we have won it beautifully. All of you are heroes, heroes of our Peerless Battalion!”

Zhou Weiqing’s loud voice once again ignited the excitement of the Peerless Battalion soldiers, and once again, cheers ﬁlled the air.

“You have used your arrows to show our enemies how strong we are. However, there are two things I need to declare now. Firstly, we will have to leave this place and return to the Seventh Legion as per their invitation. We will join the Seventh Legion as a separate, autonomous Battalion. All of you do not need to worry, our Peerless Battalion will not be split up, and you will always be our brothers of me, Zhou Little Fatty. Secondly, when we return to the Seventh Legion, I want everyone to keep silent about this battle.”

“As the saying goes, If a tree grows far above the forest canopy, the wind will destroy it. I do not want the northern army command to know too much about our ﬁghting capabilities too quickly. Once that happens, we will be given the most dangerous missions. As I have said many times, each and every one of our brothers’ lives are precious… priceless… and I do not want to have any needless sacriﬁces. Understood?”

“Understood.” Including Wei Feng, everyone acknowledged the order.

Zhou Weiqing smiled and said: “Very good. I also have one last thing to say. Since we will be leaving for the Seventh Legion after this meal, we’ll just have meat now. However, I have also prepared ﬁve hundred jugs of good wine; when we reach the Seventh Legion and camp there, you all can drink your ﬁll as a reward for this victory.”

A literal translation of the chinese idiom. The japanese version is ‘The nail that sticks out is hammered down.’ Basically meaning those who draw too much attention to themselves by being too outstanding would be oppressed by their peers.

Chapter 148 Heavenly Emperor Returns!

“Long Live Battalion Commander, Long Live the Peerless Battalion!” Upon hearing that there would be wine to drink, not much else could bring up their spirits as much as that.

Was there a soldier that didn’t love to drink? Sure, there was bound to be, but it was deﬁnitely a minority. Of course, amongst these rufﬁan soldiers, a large majority of them had been actually sentenced in the ﬁrst place due to unruly behavior while drunk, thus ending up in the Rufﬁan Battalion.

Of course, the army rules actually banned drinking. As a result, this promise of Zhou Weiqing’s was even more attractive to these rufﬁan soldiers than giving them gold!

They all enjoyed the piping hot, delicious meal. Although the wolf meat was not exactly the best tasting, in their excited, happy mood, everything just tasted better.

There was no wastage; the meat they could not ﬁnished was cooked and packed up, along with a large amount of other rations and supplies, ﬁlling up more than ﬁve hundred horse carts, which Zhou Weiqing had requisitioned from the Seventh Legion a few days ago.

The titanium alloy arrows, arrow tips and javelins which had been shot out previously were all recollected; after all these were all extremely expensive and valuable. As long as they could be reused or re-purposed, they naturally would not waste such important resources, or extra gold right?

Just as Zhou Weiqing was about to give the order to move out, a familiar piping voice rang out in his ear. “Little Fatty, ask the others to head out ﬁrst. You stay here ﬁrst.”

Hearing the voice, Zhou Weiqing was overjoyed. Wasn’t that his new teacher, the Six Ultimate Heavenly Emperor, Long Shiya?

He quickly asked Shangguan Fei’er to get Wei Feng and the others to lead the entire Peerless Battalion to the Seventh Legion, and he would join them later.

The mighty contingent of the Peerless Battalion, carts in tow, moved like a great ﬂood in the direction of the northern army command base. When they had disappeared from Zhou Weiqing’s sight, there was a ﬂash before his eyes, and two men appeared by his side.

One was the familiar rotund sight of the Large Fatty Long Shiya, and the other was another seemingly middle aged man of about the same age as Long Shiya.

The middle aged man was not exactly handsome, but he had a unique air about him, as if a well polished jade with an inner shine, giving a profound deep feel about him. He was also wearing a similar black clothing as Long Shiya, and his bearing and aura did not seem to lose out to Long Shiya.

“Master.” Zhou Weiqing bowed respectfully towards Long Shiya.

Long Shiya smiled faintly and nodded, saying: “Not bad, not bad at all. That ﬁght earlier, you did very well. Very effective application of your Skills indeed. However, your victory was once again due to the surprise element of your unique Skill. Come, let your Teacher test you on your fruits of cultivation all this time. Six Ultimate Transform Skill, go.”

This Six Ultimate Heavenly Emperor was indeed a brusque and straightforward person. Having just met his disciple after all this time, he was teaching and testing him once more, not even introducing him to the middle aged man beside him ﬁrst.

Zhou Weiqing agreed, lifting his right hand up. The Six Ultimate Transform Skill was the beginning level arts of Long Shiya’s Six Ultimate Skill Manipulation Arts. The more Zhou Weiqing dwelved into the intricacies of the Six Ultimate Skill Manipulation Arts, the more miraculous he realised it was, and the more respect and awe he held for this teacher of his. After all, Long Shiya had come up with this technique all by himself after much research and training.

A ball green light appeared around Zhou Weiqing’s palm, a pure green that was not particularly intense. His ﬁngers moved slightly, as if massaging the ball of green light energy, and in the next moment, it turned into a Wind Blade.

The Wind Blade was extremely small, much smaller than the ball of green light had previously been. The crescent shaped wind blade’s length was only three inches, but despite its minute size, it was extremely solid and well formed, glowing in green gold light. If not for the swirling movement of the light, any onlooker might think it was an actual knife in his hands.

A hint of surprise ﬂashed in Long Shiya’s eyes, though Zhou Weiqing did not notice it as his full concentration was on the energy in his palm.

The reason why the green Wind Blade was so small was not because Zhou Weiqing did not use much Heavenly Energy, but because of the sheer amount of compression of energy upon it. With Zhou Weiqing’s current cultivation level, if he did not use the compact compression skill of the Six Ultimate Skill Manipulation Arts, he could not possibly have his Wind Blade so small and compact. He had not Stored this Wind Blade Skill, and he was making use of the Six Ultimate Skill Manipulation Arts to use his Wind Attribute Heavenly Energy to imitate the Wind Attribute Skill. If he made any slight error in his control, that Wind Blade would immediately dissipate into Heavenly Energy once more.

Zhou Weiqing’s ﬁve ﬁngers continued moving in a strange rhythm, and the Wind Blade once again formed back into the ball of green light into his palm, and it slowly warped to a bluish purple colour. In the entire process, Zhou Weiqing did not dismiss the Heavenly Energy and re-release it, instead transforming it entirely from the green light, and it was still the original ball of Heavenly Energy.

When the green light had fully transformed into the bluish purple light, Zhou Weiqing’s face grew more serious. It was now Lightning Attribute Heavenly Energy, which was even more difﬁcult to control than the Wind Attribute Heavenly Energy. As the bluish purple light ﬂashed in Zhou Weiqing’s hands, his ﬁve ﬁngers began to move with increased speed, slowly causing the ball of light to form into a bluish purple lightning pearl.

In truth, after Zhou Weiqing had transformed the Heavenly Energy ball to the Lightning Attribute, he had to resort to some trickery as well. After all, the Lightning Attribute was quite a lot more active than the Wind Attribute, and Zhou Weiqing was not able to control it to form anything else. However, it was a lot easier for him to form a Lightning Pearl, as it whirled around, it was easier to just forcefully compress the Lightning Attribute. More so, Zhou Weiqing had the Dark Demon God Lightning Skill, and that deﬁnitely helped him in forming that Lightning Pearl.

Seeing the Lightning Pearl form, not only did the surprise in Long Shiya’s eyes deepen, even the middle aged man beside him also showed some surprise. After all, the Lightning Attribute was a rare and powerful Attribute, considered one of the Attributes with the most explosive power. To be able to control the Lightning Attribute to such a degree was not easy indeed. The middle aged man’s voice rang in Long Shiya’s ears: “This little fellow has only learned from you for less than half a year?! His talent for Heavenly Energy control is indeed impressive!”

Long Shiya did not reply, and on the surface his expression did not change as his gaze ﬁxated upon Zhou Weiqing’s hands.

The bluish purple Lightning Pearl slowly grew larger before it slowly dissipated back into the ball of Heavenly Energy. Once again, the transformation process started. This time, sweat beaded on Zhou Weiqing’s forehead as his eyes widened. It was clear that he was fully focused on the transformation of energy in his hands.

In truth, Long Shiya had only asked him to show the Six Ultimate Transform Skill, which was to transform his Heavenly Energy freely among his Six Attributes. However, what Zhou Weiqing was doing was not just transforming his Heavenly Energy, but actually imitating one Skill for each Attribute before transforming to the next Attribute, and so on. That was a lot more difﬁcult than Long Shiya’s original request.

The reason why Zhou Weiqing chose to do so was that he wanted to test himself, to see how far his control had progressed.The other reason was that he wanted to prove himself to his teacher, that he had not slackened off at all for the past six months and had been training with all his might. Of course, another factor was that Zhou Weiqing’s judgement of human nature was always accurate and pinpoint as usual.

Perhaps if it was only Long Shiya alone here, he might not have gone this further step. However, now that Long Shiya had brought a friend along, with an outsider here, the stronger and more impressive Zhou Weiqing could display himself, it would bring even more face to Long Shiya. To bring face to his teacher, naturally Zhou Weiqing would not hesitate to go further.

This little cunning ploy of his, naturally Long Shiya could see through it. However, even if he saw through it, Long Shiya was still extremely delighted. Having his disciple work so hard to bring him face, how could he not be happy?

Silver light slowly consolidated. This time, it did not form into the shape of a ball of light. If we were to compare all of Zhou Weiqing’s Six Attributes, it would be undoubtedly the Spatial Attribute that he had the most control over. After all, not counting his status as a Consolidating Equipment Master, just amongst his Skills, his Blink Skill was the optimum for escaping, while his Spatial Rend Skill was also extremely powerful in offense and defense, one of his most commonly used ones. Towards these two Skills, he had spent the most time and effort in improving, and as a result his understanding and control towards the Spatial Attribute Heavenly Energy was the deepest. Even so, after transforming the Heavenly Energy from Lightning Attribute to Spatial Attribute and coalescing it into a Skill, it caused sweat to form all around his head.

A dim light ﬂashed as the silver light fully consolidated, and sweat began to drip from the sides of Zhou Weiqing’s forehead. However, he had succeeded, and the thick silver light began to elongate, and if one were to look closely, right in the middle of the silver was a smatter of black. This was not just an ordinary compression of Heavenly Energy, clearly one of the Skills that Zhou Weiqing had Stored on his own… the Spatial Rend.

However, this time this Spatial Rend was clearly not unleashed from his own Stored Skill, but imitated out through control of his own Heavenly Energy. Of course, this was another minor trick, as he already had such a Skill and was much more familiar with it. Still, even if it was some trickery, being able to control Heavenly Energy to such a degree was truly a feat for his cultivation level.

At this point, the eyes of the middle aged man beside Long Shiya ﬂashed with a brilliant light, as he grasped Long Shiya’s large shoulders hard, a fawning smile at his mouth. Long Shiya glared at him. How could he not understand what his good friend meant? Before coming here, he had not revealed Zhou Weiqing’s Attributes to this best bro of his, exactly because he was afraid that he would constantly bug him about it. Long Shiya knew how important those Attributes

that Zhou Weiqing had were for a Consolidating Equipment Master. The Spatial Attribute and Wind Attribute had already been shown, and since this middle aged man also knew that Zhou Weiqing was part of the Legacy of Strength, one could imagine how pleasing Zhou Weiqing was to the eye for him. His actions towards Long Shiya now were as clear as day indeed.

Having completed the Spatial Rend Skill, Zhou Weiqing did not continue further. Instead, he took a deep breath, and on his skin, the familiar tiger tattoos started to appear as his muscles bulged out. His clear eyes also started turning bloodshot. Indeed, he was entering his Demonic Change State. In the Demonic Change State, Zhou Weiqing’s control over Heavenly Energy was much stronger and ﬁner, not just in the grasp of Heavenly Energy, but also when unleashing it, all the tiny subtle changes could be sensed with greater effect. At this point, Zhou Weiqing needed to depend on the Demonic Change State to continue the transformation of his Heavenly Energy, otherwise he might run into trouble in the further steps.

Seeing the tiger tattoos appear on Zhou Weiqing’s skin, as well as the bursting of his shirt as his muscles bulged out, the middle aged man’s eyes widened further, the surprise in them turning to sheer shock.

His mouth twitched, and Long Shiya could hear him mutter: “Truly richly endowed by nature.”

Indeed, Zhou Weiqing had already displayed three Elemental Attributes, and now with the Demonic Change State, more so a controllable one, what else could he be described with? For any powerful Heavenly Jewel Master, if they could gain such a disciple, they would undoubtedly be on cloud nine. This was truly a talent that would invoke jealousy.” Long Shiya could not resist any further, and a pleased smirk crossed his lips.

In the Demonic Change State, Zhou Weiqing instantly felt more relaxed. Although this would greatly increase the drain of Heavenly Energy, it was also without question a great help to his control.

The silver light ﬂashed and began to diffuse, slowly turning to a black colour, thick and deep. The Darkness Attribute, perhaps the closest or most intimate Attribute of Zhou Weiqing’s. After all, his father also had the same Attribute. In the Demonic Change State, he could clearly sense the icy cold Darkness aura, and Zhou Weiqing slowly closed his eyes. At this point, he was no longer using his eyes to see, but his heart to sense his surroundings.

Seeing the change in Zhou Weiqing, Long Shiya couldn’t help but nod in approval. This disciple of his was not only unbelievably talented, even his intelligence, perception and capability of understanding was extremely strong. Although Zhou Weiqing had only started on the transformation of the fourth Attribute, Long Shiya was already extremely satisﬁed. After just half a year of training, being able to do so much, it was clear that it wasn’t just talent, but insanely hard work for Zhou Weiqing to be able to reach such a standard. Previously, when he saw Zhou Weiqing ﬁght with Butler, Long Shiya was still a little worried. After all, Zhou Weiqing already had such powerful Stored Skills, and immersing himself in the Six Ultimate Skill Manipulation Arts would mean no improvement in power in the near future, perhaps

even affecting his cultivation of Heavenly Energy. Would such a young man be able to keep at it with such so many short term drawbacks? In that moment, Long Shiya had began to question it.

After all, no matter who it was, when one had such an unbelievable talent, and had clearly always improved so quickly… If he had to change to another cultivation method that did not have much clear gains, it was deﬁnitely not an easy thing to take. This was also the reason why Long Shiya had instantly asked Zhou Weiqing to show him the Six Ultimate Skill Manipulation Arts as soon as he saw him, to show the fruits of his training. Long Shiya had ﬁnally found a disciple after so long, and he did not wish for his precious disciple to end up being a rotten log.

The truth had proven his worried were unfounded. Zhou Weiqing’s willpower and tenacity was far beyond most of those around the same age, and his character much more stable. He was able to keep at the Six Ultimate Skill Manipulation Arts, putting in much effort in its training, also able to bring his teacher much face. The more Long Shiya looked at his disciple, the more pleased he was. Even if he was trying to best not to show emotion, it was hard for him. It was as if he had gotten a true son at an old age, as smug and pleased as one could be.

The black light in Zhou Weiqing’s hands started to shrink, changing at the same time, in a very strange way. This time, Zhou Weiqing did not seize the advantage by imitating a Skill that he had Stored, instead forming a small ball of black light.

The strange thing was that in the black ball, there was still a swirling dim green light. This was a Ball of Corrosion.

Long Shiya also had the Darkness Attribute, and with a single look he could tell that this time Zhou Weiqing was totally using his Heavenly Energy to imitate the Skill, and did not have such a Skill Stored. From this, Long Shiya was conﬁdent that Zhou Weiqing had already truly entered the threshold of the Six Ultimate Skill Manipulation Arts.

Of course, this was not the end. How could a person who could enter the Demonic Change State not have the Demonic Attribute? The speed of transformation from the Darkness Attribute to the Demonic Attribute was much faster, as the black turned into grey, a thick grey forming a small whirlwind around Zhou Weiqing’s palm, whirling at astonishing speed, causing the various elemental energies in the atmosphere to be drawn in towards it and making the whirlwind grow larger.

A pleased look appeared on Zhou Weiqing’s face. This grey whirlpool was truly his greatest accomplishment thus far, and was also one of the greatest aid to his current power ever since he had started training in the Six Ultimate Skill Manipulation Arts. What he was doing now was using the Six Ultimate Skill Manipulation Arts to imitate the Devour Skill of the Demonic Attribute.

After all, in order for Zhou Weiqing to use his personal Devour Skill, he had to use his palm to actually touch his opponent’s body. Conversely, he was able to draw in the various Elemental Attribute Heavenly Energy directly from the atmosphere now. That was to say, this Devour Skill that he used with the Six Ultimate Skill Manipulation Arts was now able to go from range.

Of course, Devouring from the atmosphere was deﬁnitely not as good as Devouring directly from a Heavenly Jewel Master or Heavenly Beast, not only was the Heavenly Energy mixed with all sorts of Attributes, it was much tougher to draw and absorb, the entire process much slower as well, and the cleansing and re absorption process later was also much delayed. Still, this was considered a Skill that Zhou Weiqing had created by himself! This external energy whirlpool, when combined with his internal Death Acupuncture Point energy whirlpools, it would undoubtedly be a great boost to his cultivation level.

Zhou Weiqing’s Heavenly Energy was now at the nineteenth stage. He had actually successfully crafted this new Devour Whirlpool Skill a month ago. Originally, when he had started committing full on in training the Six Ultimate Skill Manipulation Arts, his Heavenly Energy cultivation had slowed dramatically. Thanks to his Immortal Deity Technique, it was not as bad as Long Shiya had feared, but it was still only fully dependent on the normal draw of the energy whirlpools. At that point, he had still been quite some distance from breaking through his nineteenth death Acupuncture Point. However, after mastering this new Devour Whirlpool Skill, Zhou Weiqing had only used ten days before he had reached the Heavenly Energy requirement to break through the next stage. With the aid of the Demonic Change State and Solidiﬁed Dragon Spirit, he had actually managed to successfully break through, and was now only one stage away from his ﬁfth Heavenly Jewel.

This was also one of the reasons why he had been more conﬁdent in facing Butler earlier today. Upon seeing this Devour Whirlpool Skill, even Long Shiya was dumbfounded. After all, he did not have the Demonic Attribute of his own, but with his knowledge, experience and vision, how could he not see the miraculous use of this whirlpool? Envy… this teacher was almost starting to envy his

own disciple… his talent was just too unbelievable. Long Shiya

was now sure that if Zhou Weiqing continued training hard with his own guidance, he could deﬁnitely break through the Heavenly King Stage before the age of thirty.

The middle aged man beside Long Shiya ﬁnally couldn’t hold back any longer, and he spoke out: “Fatty Long, where did you ﬁnd such a monstrous little brat. Why do I not have your luck? My moral standing is clearly much better than you!!”

“Bullshit, what moral standing? Your Father, I, is the one with the true upright moral standing. Look, even the heavens are taking care of me… aren’t you jealous now? Let me tell you, Weiqing is my disciple, don’t even think about it, I will deﬁnitely not let you have him. Do you know how hard it has been before I ﬁnally found a disciple with six Attributes?”

“Six? You mean he still has another Attribute?! What is it?” The middle aged man exclaimed, his jaw agape.

Long Shiya said airly: “Look for yourself.” Indeed, it was being displayed right before his eyes right now. As soon as the grey whirlpool appeared in Zhou Weiqing’s hands, the sweat on his forehead had actually lessened instead. With this Devour Whirlpool Skill, his Heavenly Energy was actually recuperating at a slightly faster speed than draining.

Although it was only temporary, it was still sufﬁcient for him to use. That was the reason why Zhou Weiqing had chosen to imitate that Skill as well, as it was the only way he could possibly complete the last, and most difﬁcult, transformation and Skill.

The grey whirlpool slowly faded from sight, but it was only the light dissipating, and the whirlpool was still somehow there in compressed form. Zhou Weiqing had used another difﬁcult control technique of the Six Ultimate Skill Manipulation Arts; one that could only be used with sufﬁcient Heavenly Energy, which luckily had been replenished by his Devour Whirlpool.

A similar Skill, but of different Attribute. This was the control technique that Zhou Weiqing was using. A similar whirlpool, but as the grey vanished, the whirlpool had turned transparent entirely, with only the twisting of light all around proving that it still existed, and both Long Shiya and the middle aged man could sense its power. The Time Disorder Skill. Another Skill that Zhou Weiqing had Stored previously. Attempting to imitate any Time Attribute Skill was just too difﬁcult, as it was one of the strongest and most difﬁcult Elemental Attributes. After training for so long, this was the only one that Zhou Weiqing had succeeded in. As such, he could only use it out right now. At the same time, he could only succeed with the advantage from the ‘similar Skill, different Attribute’ technique, greatly lowering the difﬁculty.

Having ﬁnally completed all six transformations, Zhou Weiqing ﬁnally let go of his breath with a tiny sigh of relief as he carefully dismissed the invisible whirlpool in his palm. Once it was gone, his body sagged down in relief and his eyes opened wide once again. The sweat which had almost disappeared suddenly poured down abruptly, drenching him at once. It was clear how much spirit and mental toll it had taken on him just to complete the six transformations, and it showed in the sheer exhausted state he was left in.

Zhou Weiqing had not seen the pleased, smug look on Long Shiya’s face, instead all he saw was the slightly furrowed brow on his face.

“Teacher, did I do anything wrongly?” Zhou Weiqing asked tentatively. He had been so conﬁdent that he had already done the best he could, and if this was still not enough, he had nothing left to give. Long Shiya glanced at him, his face impassive as he said calmly: “Overall, it is still okay. At least it proves that you have not wasted these last six months, and you have been working hard. Still, there is still a lot of room for improvement, many ﬂaws that you have. Firstly, your transformation between Attributes is still very slow, not well practiced enough. Also, using that Devour Skill for your Demonic Attribute is a bit of trickery, if you used another skill, could you still continue on with that Time Disorder Skill after that? I’m sure it’s not possible then right. You must remember, when you are Transforming between Attributes, you cannot just focus on your own personal Heavenly Energy, you must also make use of the aid of the Heavenly Energy in the atmosphere in the same time as you Transform. If you attempt to do everything with your own personal Heavenly Energy, how much do you have to waste to accomplish it? In actual combat, do you have that much energy to waste? Your following focus should be to concentrate on transformation and at the same time, the connection between your own Heavenly Energy and external Heavenly Energy. When you are ﬁnally able to fully integrate yourself into nature and the environment, only then will all the transformation become as easy as second nature. At that point, you will have somewhat mastered Six Ultimate Skill Manipulation Arts.” As Zhou Weiqing listened, he nodded continuously. Indeed, the booklet that Long Shiya had given him had written about the transformation technique requiring the aid of the atmospheric Heavenly Energy. However, that was just too difﬁcult, juggling ﬁne control of both personal energy and

atmospheric energy was no easy feat. At least, at his current

level, Zhou Weiqing was unable to do so, and he could only use his own personal Heavenly Energy for now.

This was also the reason why his current training in the Six Ultimate Skill Manipulation Arts did not have much aid to his personal power. The moment he actually mastered using the atmospheric energy to help in transformation and consolidating, that would be the true mastery. Of course, that was still a long ways off.

“I have learned much, I will deﬁnitely work hard in training towards that.” Zhou Weiqing said with conviction.

Long Shiya nodded and said: “Alright, that’s all then. These mistakes of yours cannot fully be blamed on you, after all, I was not beside you these few months to correct you. This time, since I am back, I will personally oversee your training for some time, at least until you have understood the profound mysteries of the Six Ultimate Skill Manipulation Arts, lest you go out in the future and say you are my disciple and get laughed at by others.”

Zhou Weiqing was delighted and exclaimed: “That’s great, with teacher’s guidance, I am sure my training speed will be much faster.”

At this point, the middle aged man beside Long Shiya could not stand it any longer. Coughing politely, he said: “Alright, enough already, Fatty Long. Stop acting so pitiful after you have gained such a huge advantage! Acting so much! With that Six Ultimate Skill Manipulation Arts of yours, you can go try ﬁnding anyone else to train in it, even three to ﬁve years of training probably wouldn’t reach that little rascal’s standard. If you aren’t satisﬁed with him, pass him to me, I am extremely satisﬁed. I will treat him like a precious treasure, how about that?”

Upon hearing the middle aged man say he wanted to steal his disciple, Long Shiya immediately glared at him with wide eyes. His tiny eyes, normally squeezed and hidden by his fats, were almost clearly visible. “Bullshit, don’t daydream. There is no way that will happen. Weiqing is already my disciple, he won’t change over. Hmph, if you want me to let go of him, it’ll only happen if you can defeat me.” The middle aged man gave a humph and said: “I just can’t stand how you have to act after getting such an advantage. Alright, alright, hurry up and introduce us, I want to chat with this little fellow.”

Long Shiya looked at him guardedly before conﬁrming he was not trying to steal his precious disciple, before he ﬁnally turned to Zhou Weiqing and said: “Weiqing, let me introduce you, this is the friend I told you about. You can call him Senior Uncle. His name is Duan Tianlang, and he has some fame in the Consolidating Equipment Master world… just that he has withdrawn into seclusion for several dozen years, so not many people may remember him now.”

How intelligent was Zhou Weiqing, and how could he not see what was going on before him, but he restrained himself to prevent himself from laughing out loud. Long Shiya’s acting had been pretty good, alas he had been revealed by Duan Tianlang so savagely. However, as a disciple, he naturally was smart enough to pretend he did not know anything, turning to greet Duan Tianlang respectfully, saying: “Greetings, Senior Uncle Duan.

Duan Tianlang nodded, saying urgently: “I heard Fatty Long say that you are this generation’s Legacy of Strength holder of the ‘Hate Ground no Handle’ Legendary Set? Quick, let me see your ‘Hate Ground no Handle’ Legendary Set, I cannot wait for it. The wishes of all the forefathers over all these years is ﬁnally going to be fulﬁlled. ‘Hate Ground no Handle’… ‘Hate Sky no Handle’… ‘Hate Ground no Handle’… ‘Hate Sky no Handle’!” As he began repeating himself, Zhou Weiqing could

clearly see Duan Tianlang’s eyes moisten, giving off the sense that he had experienced the many vicissitudes of life. It was clear how much his emotions were in turmoil.

A brilliant dark-gold light shone forth, and Zhou Weiqing released his Dual Legendary Hammers and the Yin Yang Giant Spirit Palms. Three God Tier Consolidated Equipment, all part of the ‘Hate Ground no Handle’ Set, causing the aura around Zhou Weiqing to strengthen substantially, giving a slight feeling as if he was a celestial being descended from heaven. Especially that massive hammers in his hands, giving a valiant look about him.

Seeing the three God Tier Consolidated Equipment that Zhou Weiqing had released, Duan Tianlang couldn’t help but stare dazedly at them. Lifting his hands carefully, he stroked the lines of the Dual Legendary Hammers, especially the crying- face and smiling-face symbols. Muttering to himself, he said: “That’s right, that’s right… this is the Legendary Dual God Strength Hammers, the ﬁrst piece of the ‘Hate Ground no Handle’ Legendary Set. That ancestor once saw the Legendary Set design of the ‘Hate Sky no Handle’ Legendary Set, and in order to prove that he could create something a Legendary Set stronger than that for the Strength Attribute, his design was an improvement or addition to the ‘Hate Sky no Handle’ Set. This Legendary Dual God Strength Hammers is the best example, although in terms of mass, there is no change, he used such an

ingenious trick to redesign it… one real one illusory… not only is there an increase in power and ways of using it, even from the appearance it is far superior in menacing power.”

At this time, it was as if Duan Tianlang was lost in his own world as he muttered continuously with much excitement.

Zhou Weiqing looked towards Long Shiya. He did not are speak at all, with his cultivation level, if he tried to speak secretly, he could deﬁnitely be overheard. As such, he only mouthed a few words slowly towards his teacher, allowing Long Shiya to read his lips clearly.

When Long Shiya read Zhou Weiqing’s lips, he couldn’t help but be dazed momentarily, and his expression turned strange as his lips twitched. Finally, he subtly nodded towards Zhou Weiqing.

Zhou Weiqing had mouthed a few words towards Long Shiya: “Can I con him?” If this was not his own disciple, Long Shiya would deﬁnitely think he was unbelievably wretched, this little brat wanted to con even his friend that he brought. However, after some thought, he quickly thought things through. Con him then, he might as well let his disciple get the advantage. With such a

thought in mind, he kept silent, just selling his poor good bro to his own disciple like that.

Duan Tianlang examined it closely for almost ﬁfteen minutes before he ﬁnally lifted his head up.

“I never imagined that I would live to actually see this ‘Hate Ground no Handle’ Legendary Set. I had thought that I would have to bring this regret into the ground. Child, thank you for letting me complete this lifetime wish of mine.”

Zhou Weiqing said innocently: “Senior Uncle Duan, you are still very young!”

Duan Tianlang laughed heartily and said: “Young? Do you know how old both your teacher and I are? Fatty Long, if I don’t remember wrongly, you should be two years older than me right? I am one hundred and sixteen this year, and you are one hundred and eighteen.” Although Zhou Weiqing had guessed that these two would not be young, but he will still shocked upon hearing that they were both above one hundred and ten years old.

Duan Tianlang sighed and continued: “I am different from Fatty Long, his cultivation level is much higher after focusing most of his time on cultivation… living to two hundred should not be a problem. However, I am mainly a Consolidating Equipment Master… to you, I should be another branch of the Legacy of Strength. I have spent all my life on Consolidating Equipment Scrolls, and it has taken a huge toll on my spirit. Although my cultivation level is not weak, but when I reached the God Tier Consolidating Equipment Master stage, reaching the peak of my capabilities… there is nothing left in the world for me to be reluctant to leave it.”

“My remaining life is originally only a few years left… I never thought that you would actually bring me hope, and now I am a little unwilling to die.”

Long Shiya said exasperatedly: “As long as you are not willing to die, who can make you die? You useless bum, remember what we agreed on, now that you have seen the ‘Hate Ground no Handle’ Set, you cannot seek death any longer.” Duan Tianlang looked at Long Shiya, then back to Zhou Weiqing, before saying in a sorrowful, plaintive manner: “So what if I have seen it? To us Consolidating Equipment Masters, looking at a ﬁnal product isn’t much use, especially for God Tier Consolidating Equipment and Sets, what is within is the most important. Although my wish is considered fulﬁlled, there is still nothing much for me to live for! Unless, there is the ‘Hate Ground no Handle’ set design for me to see… perhaps I might be able to live a few more years then.”

What was Zhou Weiqing at the core? He was originally a little scoundrel, and upon listening to Duan Tianlang’s words, how could he not understand. This senior was actually being shameless, trying to see if he actually had the ‘Hate Ground no Handle’ Legendary Set design but not willing to ask it out directly…

If you are acting, then I shall as well? A helpless look crossed Zhou Weiqing’s face as he said: “Senior Uncle Duan, actually… I do have the ‘Hate Ground no Handle’ Legendary Set design.”

Hearing his words, Duan Tianlang could no longer act any longer. Grabbing hold of Zhou Weiqing’s shoulders, he asked urgently: “The whole set? All ten pieces?”

Zhou Weiqing nodded. Without hesitation, Duan Tianlang said excitedly: “Quick, quick let me see. Don’t say anything else, as long as you let me see the Legendary Set design, I swear that I will never spread it out. I am willing to take a blood oath, no matter what you want, as long as I have it or am able to get it, I will give it to you without question. My greatest wish of my life is to let the ‘Hate Sky no Handle’ and ‘Hate Ground no Handle’ Legendary Sets reunite, to let them see the light of the sky together for once. Child, please count it as your Senior Uncle begging you.”

Chapter 149 God Tier Consolidating Equipment Master Joins!

As he said that, Duan Tianlang did not hesitate and was about to kneel down towards Zhou Weiqing. Looking at him, it was deﬁnitely no act, even his tears were falling down.

How could Zhou Weiqing possibly dare to let him kneel and kowtow towards himself! He quickly knelt down ﬁrst, grabbing hold of Duan Tianlang’s waist, preventing him from kneeling down.

“Senior Uncle, please don’t do that, I would not be able to take it! I’ll show it to you…” Zhou Weiqing said hurriedly.

By this point, he could no longer care about conning Duan Tianlang, even feeling ashamed about wanting to do so. He could clearly tell that this Senior Uncle in front of him truly wanted the ‘Hate Ground no Set’ design so much that he was even willing to give his life for it, truly showing how much Consolidating Equipment Scrolls were to him. Towards powerhouses like him, sometimes their fame, reputation and face was even more important their lives, yet he was willing to kneel and kowtow to a junior like him. Zhou Weiqing’s heartstrings had indeed been tugged. Asking himself inwardly, he knew that he might not have such a stubborn love towards something.

With that sense of respect, he agreed to show the legendary set design.

Hearing Zhou Weiqing’s words, Duan Tianlang did not reveal any sense of delight. Instead, his body seemed to waver, his eyes rolling as he entered a trancelike state.

Long Shiya instantly saw that something was wrong, and in a ﬂash he appeared behind Duan Tianlang’s back, pressing his palms to his back, a serious look on his face. An overwhelming Heavenly Energy was drawn in from all sides, surging into Duan Tianlang as Long Shiya slapped out with his palms consecutively, striking over a hundred palms onto Duan Tianlang’s back.

These few years, because Duan Tianlang did not feel like there was anything left to live for, he had not controlled or taken care of his body, and his life force was almost empty. This was also the reason why his Long Shiya had taken so long to return; when he had found Duan Tianlang, he was on the verge of dying, and he had used his powerful Heavenly Energy to renourish Duan Tianlang’s body, dragging him back from the verge of death before bringing him back here. Of course, it was also because of the ‘Hate Ground no Handle’ set, otherwise Duan Tianlang might not have accepted Long Shiya’s aid. Sometimes, living a long time may not be something to be happy about. Previously, after he had helped Long Shiya complete the entire set of ‘Hate Sky no Handle, he no longer had any goals or targets to live for. In terms of creativity and design, he knew inwardly that he could not surpass his forefathers, and the only thing he could still think of was the ‘Hate Ground no Handle’ Legendary Set.

This was the ﬁrst time Zhou Weiqing had experienced a Heavenly Emperor’s power ﬁrst hand, and as Long Shiya manipulated the Heavenly Energy, he felt as if the entire atmosphere was like a massive Devour Whirlwind, with Long Shiya as the center, everything surging towards him. Yet, this was not Devouring, but some sort of draw or attraction, as if in that instant the entire world was in his grasp.

The hazed eyes of Duan Tianlang seemed to slowly recover as light began to return to them, and a faint white light rose from his skin. He slowly drew a deep breath, as long as whale whistling, drawing the immense Heavenly Energy that Long Shiya had drawn in into his own body before expelling his breath. Zhou Weiqing could faintly see that the breath he expelled out was a greyish colour. With a new lease of life breathed into Duan Tianlang, Long Shiya slowly put his hands down. “Old friend, don’t scare me like that. I spent so much effort to drag you back from the verge of death earlier, if you were to die now, could you be satisﬁed? The ‘Hate Ground no Handle’ design you’ve always hoped for is now in front of you!”

Duan Tianlang looked at Long Shiya, however his eyes did not have gratitude but a mild chagrin. “It’s all you old thing, if you didn’t drag me back from the brink, would I know about the ‘Hate Ground no Handle’ Legendary Set? Perhaps, I would already be reunited with your sister in law. Now, I’ll have to stay alive a few more years at least. Don’t worry, I will take care now. As long as I don’t want to die, even if hell tries to reach up and grab me, it won’t be that easy.”

Zhou Weiqing took out the stack of designs and brought it in front of Duan Tianlang respectfully. He trusted Long Shiya, and also believed that the story he had told was indeed true. However, he did not take out all the designs, just nine of the pieces. He might respect Duan Tianlang and trust in his teacher, but without Huyan Aobo’s agreement he would not show everything.”

“Senior Uncle, this is nine out of ten pieces of the entire ‘Hate Ground no Handle’ Legendary Set design. I’m sorry, as I have not gotten permission from my Legacy of Strength teacher, I cannot let you see them all now. Once I meet up with Master Huyan again and get his permission, I will pass you the last design piece to see.”

Duan Tianlang nodded silently, his hands trembling as he took the nine design sheets from Zhou Weiqing’s hands, his eyes reddening.

“How many years has it been… more than a thousand years… Hate Sky no Handle… Hate Ground no Handle… ﬁnally they reunite. Thank you Weiqing, you have truly fully fulﬁlled this last wish of your Senior Uncle. I am already so old, but I have gathered much over all these long years. The materials required for the ‘Hate Ground no Handle’ Set is not that much different from that of the ‘Hate Sky no Handle’ Legendary Set, and I will try to complete this set for you. I only hope that the heavens grant this old man enough time to succeed… once I can see you wear the full set of the ‘Hate Ground no Handle’, then I can truly die in peace.”

Hearing his words, Zhou Weiqing was overjoyed. This meant he would have a God Tier Consolidating Equipment Master by his side specially helping him to create his Legendary Set! Before Long Shiya could even remind him, Zhou Weiqing had knelt down on the ground with a soft thud, kowtowing three times towards Duan Tianlang, who smiled faintly as he accepted the obeisance.

“Child, I accept your obeisance not because of your thanks. The Legacy of Strength has been split apart for far too long, and as the Sixty First Sect Leader of the main branch Legacy of Strength, I ask that you return to the main branch, to reunite both branches and form a whole and complete Legacy of Strength.”

“Oei, oei, Old Duan, one must be honest and virtuous.” Upon hearing his words, Long Shiya immediately exclaimed anxiously. To him, Zhou Weiqing was even more important than a wife, and he was afraid that his precious disciple was about to be snatched away from him.”

Duan Tianlang gave a soft smile and said: “Alright, Fatty Long, don’t give me that. Would I really steal your disciple? However, you also have to admit that Weiqing is part of my Legacy of Strength right? Although I am not taking him as an ofﬁcial disciple, I will still pass down all my knowledge as a Consolidating Equipment Master. Whether or not he has the time and energy to learn it, that will be his business.” Long Shiya stared at him with jaw agape before saying: “Old Duan, when have you become so shameless?”

Duan Tianlang laughed heartily, carefully keeping the designs in his hands. “What do you mean shameless? I am teaching him everything I know, whether or not he chooses to master it is his business, how is it shameless? I can’t be bothered about you old thing. Okay, Weiqing, come help your Senior Uncle ﬁnd a place to rest. I must take a bath and burn incense in preparation ﬁrst before I take a good look at the brilliance of the ‘Hate Ground no Handle’.” As he spoke up to that point, his eyes gleamed with a brilliance, the sudden burst of aura no lesser than Long Shiya.

Zhou Weiqing quickly pulled his Single-Horned Ghost Demon Horse from the side, letting Long Shiya and Duan Tianlang mount it. Although Long Shiya was extremely large, Zhou Weiqing’s Ghost Demon Horse was truly a magniﬁcent steed, and had no problems carrying both of them. He himself followed by the side of his Ghost Demon Horse, circulating his Heavenly Energy as they headed towards the direction the Peerless Battalion had left.

Due to the speed of the horse carts with all their gear, the Peerless Battalion was travelling at a much slower pace. Before long, Zhou Weiqing and his two teachers had caught up with the main group. Naturally, at that point, someone let him have a Ghost Demon Horse to mount on as well; as the Battalion Commander, it wouldn’t do for Zhou Weiqing to be running all the way along.

As for Long Shiya and Duan Tianlang, they naturally drew many curious gazes. Riding on the Ghost Demon Horse, Long Shiya appeared drowsy and about to fall asleep, while Duan Tianlang looked to be deep in thought, neither of them seeming to care about anything happening around them.

It did not take the entire troop long to reach close to the front of the northern army encampment. Of course, with so many gathered at once, they were stopped by the patrols, and Zhou Weiqing took out the plaque that Shen Ji had given him to get the patrolling soldiers to report back. In a jiffy, a group of riders could be seen coming from the Seventh Legion.

At this point, the Peerless Battalion soldiers had already kept all their titanium alloy mail, and were only dressed in their army uniforms. Zhou Weiqing did not want to reveal all his secrets so easily, especially such expensive equipment… even in the entire ZhongTian Empire, not a single army unit could be as well geared as the Peerless Battalion. The one in front of the incoming riders was familiar to him, though her facial expression was not kind. It was the Regiment Commander Shen Bu, with her sister Shen Yi by her side. For the two sisters to see Zhou Weiqing, how could their expressions be nice. If not for Shen Ji giving them strict orders, they probably wished they could beat Zhou Weiqing up.

“Ohh, isn’t this Regiment Commander Shen Bu? How do you do, how do you do, how could I trouble you to come all the way to receive us?” Seeing Shen Bu, Zhou Weiqing felt rather amused, knowing that the enmity between them would not be so easily resolved.

Shen Bu dismounted, heading towards Zhou Weiqing as she said coldly: “I have orders from Seventh Legion, Legion Commander Shen Ji to receive Battalion Commander Zhou. He has given the order that your First Special Battalion will camp right beside my Sixteenth Regiment. The space has already been cleared for you, and you all can head there to set up your camp.”

Zhou Weiqing gave her a salute with palm in hand and said: “Thank you very much.”

Although his words were of thanks, his expression was rather indifferent. Shen Bu already knew that they had changed names to the Peerless Battalion, yet she had emphasized the old name of First Special Battalion, clearly mocking them about still being the Rufﬁan Battalion, and Zhou Weiqing did not see the need to give her a good expression in return.

Shen Bu turned her horse around and said: “Alright, then follow me. Battalion Commander Zhou, I do need to remind you that this is the main northern army encampment. Please keep your soldiers in check, otherwise the military criminal code will still have to come in effect.”

Zhou Weiqing laughed heartily and said: “Do not worry about that Regiment Commander Shen Bu, as long as the female soldiers from your Sixteenth Regiment do not come looking for men here, our Peerless Battalion soldiers will behave themselves!”

His voice was not soft, and laughter instantly erupted around him. These rufﬁan soldiers of the Peerless Battalion had camped in the north, climbing their way through the threat of death, and they would not be afraid of anyone.

“You!” Shen Yi was about to have a ﬁt of anger, but she was quickly restrained by Shen Bu, who turned to glare coldly at Zhou Weiqing before mounting up and heading towards the main camp.

The Peerless Battalion was situated right between the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Regiments, and it was clear that the area had been specially cleared out for them. However, though the area had been cleared out, there was still much rubbish there. Although there was no smell due to the bitter winter cold, it was still an uncomfortable thing to look at.

Shen Bu acted like she did not see all the rubbish, saying impassively to Zhou Weiqing: “Please camp here Battalion Zhou, I will be heading off then.”

Zhou Weiqing was still smiling as he said: “Alright then, Regiment Commander Shen Bu, I shall not send you off then.”

Shen Bu ignored him, leading Shen Yi and her personal guards to turn and leave.

“Boss, what do we do?” Wei Feng sidled closer to Zhou Weiqing and asked. Zhou Weiqing said calmly: “Do you still need to ask? This is an army camp, not a rubbish dump. Whoever these belong to, just throw it back to them.” He paused for a moment, then raised his voice, saying: “Now, I will proclaim a new rule. Everyone listen carefully. From now on, without my orders, no one is allowed to leave our Peerless Battalion camp site, otherwise they will be punished accordingly. However, if anyone comes to our territory to cause trouble, no matter who it is, just beat them up. If you lose, you will be throwing our Peerless Battalion faces, and you better just go look for Trainer Shangguan to receive your punishment. Alright, now, go set up camp, and once it’s done we shall drink.”

Once they heard about drinking, cheers erupted, and the fatigue ﬂed from the entire Peerless Battalion as everyone quickly burst into motion to clear the camp and started pitching tents. As for the rubbish, once they had collected it, they were not biased at all, throwing half each to the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Regiment.

Long Shiya looked on with a strange expression on his face before he turned to Zhou Weiqing and said: “Little Fatty, your army troop is allowed to drink wine?” Zhou Weiqing grinned and said: “Heh heh, my Peerless Battalion is very different from any ordinary army troop, and the way we control and teach them is very different as well. Master, let me ﬁrst arrange for the two best tents for you and Senior Uncle to rest.”

Long Shiya grinned as well and said: “Let Old Duan rest, why would Your Father, I, need to rest! I also want to go drink! Oh right, arrange for someone to get me a set of army uniform as well, otherwise I might stand out too much.”

“Master, that isn’t too good right?” Zhou Weiqing said in surprise.

Long Shiya smiled and said: “No problem, do I still care about such trivial things? Drinking with some soldiers, isn’t that quite an interesting experience.”

Long Shiya’s size was impressive indeed, and even the largest sized army uniform was still tight on him, and the length of the sleeves and trousers had to be cut slightly to ﬁt him.

Fine wine was perhaps one of the greatest attraction to these Peerless Battalion soldiers, who had not tasted wine in so many years, and in their fervor the camp was quickly settled in about an hour. Soon after, jars of ﬁne wine was cracked open, and the strong fragrance of wine spread through the entire Peerless Battalion.

Although Zhou Weiqing had indeed prepared a large quantity of wine, he still gave the order that one jar was to be shared between three to four people, with an equal sharing, and nobody was to drink too much. After all, after so many years of not drinking, it would not do if anyone got alcohol poisoning.

“Fei’er, Fei’er, let’s go drink as well!” Zhou Weiqing quickly turned to Shangguan Fei’er, who wasn’t far off from him.

Shangguan Fei’er rolled her eyes and said: “Why must I drink with you?” Although she said that, she still walked to Zhou Weiqing’s side. The soldiers nearby who witnessed this hid their smiles; in their eyes their Battalion Commander and Head Drill Master (Mistress) was already a matching pair.

As Shangguan Fei’er walked up to him, Zhou Weiqing boldly grabbed her hands and dragged her into his tent.

The tent was as simply decorated as previously, and there were four simple meat dishes on the table. Zhou Weiqing pulled her along to the table to take a seat, but still did not let go of her hand.

“What are you doing?” Shangguan Fei’er could clearly feel her face burning as she struggled slightly, trying to draw back her hand.

However, in terms of strength, she was naturally not Zhou Weiqing’s match, and she was unable to do so.

Zhou Weiqing did not make a sound, just staring at her directly, his expression a mixture of dazed wonder and befuddlement as his heated gaze ﬁxed on her, causing her to be in a ﬂuster.

“You… are you thinking of Bing’er when you look at me?” Shangguan Fei’er lowered her head, not willing to look at him directly.

Zhou Weiqing started momentarily, but after a while he nodded slightly. “A little, I miss Bing’er.” Shangguan Bing’er was his ﬁrst and greatest love, her gentle demure bearing always soothing to him. Shangguan Fei’er’s eyes dulled slightly, though her lowered head would not allow Zhou Weiqing to see this.

“Fei’er, let’s not run away from the truth anymore. I like you a lot, and have long since fallen in love with you.” Right at that moment, the startling words rang out in Shangguan Fei’er’s ears.

“Ahh?” Shangguan Fei’er lifted up her head in surprise.

Zhou Weiqing looked deeply in her eyes. “Liking someone is a slight love, love is a deep liking. At that time, when I was in severe danger, you endured all that pain and suffering and yet was unwilling to let go of me, no matter whether or not it meant your death. In that instant, I fell for you with all my heart. I know that I am an asshole, falling for so many, but if I give up on you, I know I will not be happy for the rest of my life. I will not allow such a thing to happen. Fei’er, I love you, and I will always be like now, holding on to you and not letting you escape.”

Shangguan Fei’er did not expect that Zhou Weiqing would profess his love at such a moment, and she did not have any preparation in her heart at all. Looking at him, the normally eccentric Little Demon Girl of the Heaven’s Expanse Palace was suddenly just like any ordinary girl, her heart racing as she bit lightly on her lower lip.

“But… you already have Bing’er. If it were any other person, I would beat her away… but deﬁnitely not Bing’er. We have lost her for so many years, and we ﬁnally found her… how could I possibly steal her man?”

Zhou Weiqing sighed and gave a bitter smile. “In truth, I have a bigger headache than you… that is the price of being a person with so many loves. However, no matter what, I will not let go of any of you so easily, deﬁnitely not; otherwise I will regret it for life. I know, I am very greedy, but no matter what, no matter how you all look at me for that, even if I have to bind you to me, I won’t let any of you leave… I am originally a rogue, a scoundrel, so no matter how shameless I have to be, you all won’t get rid of me so easily.”

As he said that, Zhou Weiqing tugged on her hand suddenly, enveloping her in his embrace tightly, his emotions in ﬂux as well.

“Fei’er, do you know? When I saw you die right in front of my eyes, in that moment my heart almost died at the same time. If that time I had not been able to revive you, I would have followed you into death. Please do not leave me… truly… I do love Bing’er deeply, perhaps the most, but I do love you the same. All the difﬁculties, the responsibilities, please let me shoulder them all. As long as you do not leave me… okay?”

Shangguan Fei’er could clearly sense the heat emanating from Zhou Weiqing’s body, and more so, the ﬁery hot core within his heart. She was unable to speak… although logic told her that if the two of them were to try to be together, they would have to face untold difﬁculties and trials, but at this moment, she truly could not bring herself to refuse him. After all, in her heart, he had already imprinted himself deeply, almost irreplaceably.

Shangguan Fei’er nodded slightly, her beautiful countenance as red as a fresh apple, as if able to squeeze the juice from it.

Zhou Weiqing was unable to hold back any further, and his hot lips sought her quivering red luscious ones in a deep kiss.

These few months, he had been in deep closed door cultivation, training with all his might in the Six Ultimate Skill Manipulation Arts, his heart had not been at peace, constantly thinking about him and Shangguan Fei’er. The worries that she had… naturally he had thought of them as well. He had also tried his best to make himself forget her; after all nothing had actually happened yet between the two of them. However, Zhou Weiqing found that he could not do it. Shangguan Fei’er being willing to die for his sake… that image had been seared into his mind and heart, so very vivid. Ever since that time, Shangguan Fei’er’s position in his heart was no lesser than Bing’er or Tian’er any longer, how could he give her up easily?

Finally, Zhou Weiqing had set his resolve… he would rather have more loves than to be disloyal to his loves and his heart. Even if others would call him a scoundrel, shameless… he would not give up his loves so easily. As such, this scene in front of them had played out due to that decision.

Shangguan Fei’er’s lips started trembling, but that was quickly replaced by the heat. The Little Demon Girl was after all the Little Demon Girl of the Heaven’s Expanse Palace, and once she slowly unlocked her heart under Zhou Weiqing’s onslaught, she began to reciprocate crazily. Hadn’t she also been repressing herself all these while? Once the shackles in her heart were unlocked, her suppressed emotions and feelings burst forth, perhaps even greater than Zhou Weiqing’s.

Zhou Weiqing’s hands had somehow wandered into her clothing, feeling the soft smooth skin and its slight trembling, it was as if a demon had taken over his heart. Outside, cheers, laughter and the sound of talking could be heard, but in the tent, it was just the silence of springtime spreading.

Just as Zhou Weiqing had carried Shangguan Fei’er and was headed to the bed, all of a sudden, a cold humph rang out.

Zhou Weiqing’s senses were extremely acute, and even in such a state immersed in his emotions, that was still true. That abrupt cold humph was just too sudden, as if an explosion in his ears, and both he and Shangguan Fei’er felt as if they were suddenly jolted awake, shuddering.

Only then did Shangguan Fei’er realised that her hands were also in Zhou Weiqing’s shirt, stroking his chest, while Zhou Weiqing’s hands were even more shameless, holding her by her buttocks, almost slipping into her pants.

“Who’s there?” Zhou Weiqing shouted angrily. For someone to be interrupted at such a moment, who could be in a good mood?

There was no response… no sound at all. Both of them stayed in the same position, their Heavenly Energy released as the probed the area for any sign of anything. Zhou Weiqing even unleashed the Touch of Darkness, increasing his senses, spreading out to its maximum forty yard radius. No matter how strong an enemy was, as long as he was in the area, he should technically be discovered by Zhou Weiqing.

Yet, to their surprise, despite all their efforts, they could not sense anyone in the vicinity.

The two shared a glance, seeing the shock in each other’s eyes, and naturally knew that the other had also not found any trace of anyone.

“What’s going on? Did I imagine things?” Zhou Weiqing asked.

Shangguan Fei’er rolled her eyes at him and said exasperatedly: “Do you think we both imagine the same thing at once? There has to be someone… could it be your teacher? Otherwise, how could we not ﬁnd someone?”

Zhou Weiqing felt the warmth in his hands and grinned, boldly stroking some more as he said: “Who cares about him, let’s continue.” “Continue your head!” Shangguan Fei’er’s face was totally red. Previously, she had been lost in her emotions, but now that she had calmed down, with Zhou Weiqing stroking her buttocks, how could a young virgin lass like her take it? The hand on Zhou Weiqing’s chest pushed outwards, and her supple body slid out of Zhou Weiqing’s evil grasp.

Chapter 150 Rage!

…

Previously, when the Peerless Battalion had been moving from the northern borderlands back to the northern army command, Shangguan Xue’er had reached them. She had started following secretly behind Shangguan Fei’er and the main Peerless Battalion troop. However, before they had travelled far, she suddenly sensed a terrifying Heavenly Energy pressure from behind.

As such, she had turned back stealthily, seeing Zhou Weiqing who had remained behind, as well as the Six Ultimate Heavenly Emperor Long Shiya and his friend Duan Tianlang.

Towards Duan Tianlang, she was unable to read into him. However, when Long Shiya started healing Duan Tianlang and dragging him back from verge of death, the sheer power he unleashed caused her to be in shock. She had never expected that such a powerhouse would be at Zhou Weiqing’s side. She could clearly tell that this fat middle aged man was at the same level as her father and big uncle… that was a Heavenly Emperor! Such a powerhouse… even in the entire Boundless Mainland, one could count the total number with their two hands. Seeing the respect Zhou Weiqing had for the fat man, it was clear their relationship was not simple.

Shangguan Xue’er immediately decided that she would have to ask her sister about this, as Fei’er would likely know who that was.

As such, after the travel, she had sneaked into the army camp. Who knew that before she could even ﬁnd Fei’er and ask her about Long Shiya, she instead saw Zhou Weiqing and her sister being intimate, hearing the conversation between the two. The worst fear of Shangguan Xue’er’s had been realised indeed.

Looking on at them, she couldn’t help but blush deeply as her heart raced, and she immediately gave a cold humph. At that moment, she suddenly felt a terrifying aura in the area, and she did not hesitate to ﬂee the army camp immediately. That was the reason why Zhou Weiqing and Shangguan Fei’er did not discover her.

Where that pressure had come from, Shangguan Fei’er did not know. She had been using the Heaven’s Expanse Palace’s secret arts to barely hide her presence, but she knew that if she continued staying there, the Heavenly Emperor powerhouse would deﬁnitely be able to detect her. Although she was conﬁdent in her own abilities, when it came to the level of Heavenly Emperor, she would not have the slightest chance.

What do I do? All of a sudden, Shangguan Xue’er felt at a loss. She was getting a headache from the relationship between Zhou Weiqing and her sisters. However, she could understand Fei’er’s feelings… for Zhou Weiqing to be able to depend on his own strength to develop and grow in the northern border to such a degree, with his own personal strength, he deﬁnitely had something that attracted her sister. Otherwise, with Shangguan Fei’er’s character, how could she possibly let him take advantage of her so easily.

This will not do… no matter what, I have to bring Second Sis back. This Zhou Little Fatty is Third Sis’ man… how can I allow him and Second Sis to have intimate relations?

Shangguan Xue’er immediately set her resolve inwardly. However, she knew that she would not be able to continuously sneak in so easily, as that Heavenly Emperor powerhouse would eventually sense her. As such, she could only depend on regular channels to meet up with Zhou Weiqing and Shangguan Fei’er. Hmph, Zhou Weiqing, you rotten egg! Having one of my sisters isn’t enough for you, you dare to provoke my second sis as well! Also… there is still that little tigress of the Heavenly Snow Mountain, there is clearly something between them as well. This time, if you do not give an accounting, I will not let you go so easily.

Lost in her thoughts, Shangguan Fei’er subconsciously gripped her ﬁsts tightly, her heart ﬁlled with anger and detest for Zhou Weiqing.

…

Zhou Weiqing did not know how much wine he had drank; all he remembered was many of his soldiers coming to toast him. By the time he woke up in the morning from the drunken stupor, the sun had already long risen and light had already ﬂooded the tent, the comfortable warmth leaving him in a lazy languor.

Hangovers were undoubtedly a painful experience for ordinary people, but for powerhouses like Zhou Weiqing, it was nothing. His physique was far beyond any ordinary person, and alcohol would not have any harmful effects on him.

Stretching lazily, Zhou Weiqing clambered off his bed. Although he did not succeed in being intimate with Shangguan Fei’er last night, the drink was still extremely comfortable. Shouting and cheering together with his men, that was indeed an enjoyable feeling.

“Report! Battalion Commander, are you awake yet?” An urgent voice abruptly came from outside his tent.

“En? Come in.” Zhou Weiqing said questioningly.

The tent ﬂap raised, and one of the Peerless Battalion soldiers entered. “Battalion Commander, please hurry, something happened… Green Wolf is dying.”

“What did you say?!” Only then did the lazy satisﬁed feeling that Zhou Weiqing was in evaporated. “What happened?!”

The soldier replied: “It’s the other Regiment soldiers. This morning, nobody knows why but the Sixteenth Regiment Regiment Commander Shen Bu personally led men over here… After that, a ﬁght broke out, and Green Wolf was beaten up by two of the enemy Battalion Commanders working together… it looks like he won’t last long. The brothers are all angry, and we are at a standoff with the Sixteenth Regiment men.” “HMPH! They’re asking for death!” Zhou Weiqing howled in rage, charging out of the tent in a ﬂash. He had spent so much time, effort and money in cultivating these Peerless Battalion warriors, and now that they had a modicum of success and were on the right path, such a thing had happened. Green Wolf had reached the Seven-Jeweled cultivation level, and amongst their Physical Jewel Masters, he was one of the top few. Even amongst all the Company Leaders, he was around the top few of the ranking.

At time, Zhou Weiqing could be very generous, but there were some areas where he was deﬁnitely extremely stingy. In his eyes, each and every single person in the Peerless Battalion was extremely important to him, his brothers, and also his greatest hope for reviving his Heavenly Bow Empire. His protective instinct towards them was extremely strong, and hearing that one of his brothers had almost been killed, how could he not be anxious?

Zhou Weiqing did not even need to ask for directions, instantly sensing where there was a large gathering of people as he dashed towards that area. As he had expected, besides those Peerless Battalion soldiers who were still sleeping from the drinking last night, there were at least ﬁve hundred men gathered there, the tension in the atmosphere clear as both sides seemed ready to ﬁght; Zhou Weiqing could sense that much even from such a distance. “What’s going on? Let me pass.” Zhou Weiqing shouted out loud, instantly drawing the gazes from all those present. Immediately, the group parted, allowing him a passageway through.

Zhou Weiqing strode quickly through the ranks, reaching the front in a blink.

At that moment, the sentiments of the Peerless Battalion soldiers were all roused up in anger, indignation, sheer rage… As soon as they saw Zhou Weiqing, an uproar rose up as they all started talking at once.

“Battalion Commander, you must help us get an accounting for this! Those Sixteenth Regiment fellows beat up many of our brothers just because they outnumbered them.”

“Yes! Battalion Commander, give the order! Let’s kill all these bastards!”

These soldiers of the Peerless Battalion were after all originally rufﬁans and rogues, and ﬁghting and creating disturbances was one of the most common things they did to be sent to the Rufﬁan Battalion. Just because their opponent’s Regiment Commander had come didn’t mean they would be afraid or step back… if not for Wei Feng and the other Company Leaders holding them back, perhaps they would have swarmed over the Sixteenth Regiment men by now.

“Everyone shut up! I will get an accounting for us all!” Zhou Weiqing yelled angrily.

Instantly, the soldiers of the Peerless Battalion fell into silence. In the entire Peerless Battalion, Zhou Weiqing had absolute authority. Not just because of the various ‘proﬁt’ he brought to them, or the respect and love they had for him, but also because of his own sheer personal strength. In the battleﬁeld, he was always in the thick of the ﬁght, ﬁghting the strongest of the enemies. Although the Peerless Battalion soldiers might not have the best characters, they were all truly respectful and held much admiration for this young Battalion Commander of theirs.

Zhou Weiqing moved to the front, and Wei Feng immediately stepped forward to receive him. He breathed a sigh of relief on seeing Zhou Weiqing, and said: “Battalion Commander, you are ﬁnally here. If you had not come soon, things would have gone out of hand.”

Zhou Weiqing said solemnly: “Vice Commander Wei, what is going on?” He turned to look at the Peerless Battalion soldiers, who still had the stink of alcohol about them, but each and every one of them were enraged. Most of them had their weapons out, looking as if they would attack at any moment if they did not get an answer.

On the other side, Shen Bu’s expression was extremely unfriendly as well. Behind her, all ten of the Battalion Commanders from the Sixteenth Regiment were here as well, the feathers in their caps showing their identity. Behind them, there were at least ﬁve hundred men, likely Shen Bu’s personal guards and the elites of the Sixteenth Regiment.

Wei Feng stepped closer to Zhou Weiqing’s side and said in a low tone that only he could hear. “Last night, we threw the rubbish back to the Sixteenth Regiment, and when they discovered in this morning, they came looking for trouble. At ﬁrst, it was just those Heavy Cavalry soldiers who we took care off last time, and when after some heated words were exchanged, a ﬁght broke out. Our brothers followed your orders; since others have come to our territory, they beat them up… and most of them were injured. Still, they still kept their reason about them and held back, and there should be no heavy injuries. After that, some of their Battalion Commanders brought men over to continue looking for trouble. Most of our brothers were still semi drunk from the night before, and once again a ﬁght broke out. By the time I arrived, it was too late, and Green Wolf was already severely injured. I’m afraid…” Zhou Weiqing glanced to the side and saw Green Wolf, who lay there on the verge of death, barely gasping for breath from the caved in chest, blood welling out from all around the chest area.

As that picture entered his sight, Zhou Weiqing felt a rush of hot blood gushing to his brain, and his breathing growing heavy with rage.

“Zhou Weiqing, you better give me an accounting today, otherwise we will bring it up to the military court.” As soon as Shen Bu saw that Zhou Weiqing had arrived, she immediately yelled at him in a rage.

Wei Feng’s words had been simple, but in truth, two entire Companies of Heavy Calvary soldiers had come from the Sixteenth Regiment earlier. Although they were not fully geared, they still thought highly of themselves and their ﬁghting capabilities, and came looking for trouble just like that. Of course, they had not expected that all these Peerless Battalion soldiers had been drilled for months by Shangguan Fei’er, and as the two sides clashed, it was deﬁnitely not them who suffered the disadvantage.

Two entire Companies of Heavy Cavalry soldiers were all beaten back, with more than a third suffering from broken bones or fractures. Since when had the Sixteenth Regiment taken such a loss, and the Battalion Commanders sent word to Shen Bu before rushing down with their men. However, they had not taken the advantage at the same time, as the rufﬁans of the Peerless Battalion were just too savage… when they fought, it was as if they did not care for their lives. Although Green Wolf was mortally wounded, he had also broken both arms of the two Battalion Commanders he had been ﬁghting. If not for the fact that the other Company Leaders of the Peerless Battalion had not come in time, perhaps the outcome of the ﬁght would be very different.

It had been the simultaneous arrival of Shen Bu and Wei Feng that had ﬁnally caused the ﬁghting to halt and the situation to stabilize relatively into the current stalemate. On the Peerless Battalion’s side, there were at least forty to ﬁfty with injuries, while on the side of the Sixteenth Regiment almost three hundred were injured. Besides Shen Bu’s personal guard that had come with her, pretty much everyone else had some form of injuries, or at least looking shabby and fatigued. In fact, this was also due to the fact that many of the Peerless Battalion soldiers were either sleeping or drunk, otherwise with the entire Peerless Battalion being Jewel Masters, they would deﬁnitely be at a huge advantage.

“What kind of accounting do you want?” Zhou Weiqing snarled coldly at Shen Bu, his eyes turning bloodshot in his rage.

Shen Bu did not sense anything amiss, and she continued angrily: “You bunch of rufﬁans and scoundrels… you just made camp and already causing trouble, even daring to drink and carouse in the army camp, and even beat up my men. You better surrender all those men who beat up my soldiers just now and let me deal with them, then tie yourself up and come with me to the Legion Commander to receive punishment.”

“Receive punishment? Punishment your head!” Zhou Weiqing lost control and shouted out in sheer rage. “PEERLESS BATTALION SOLDIERS, EVERYONE GET IN YOUR GEAR AND DRAW YOUR BOWS. AWAIT MY ORDERS.”

“YES SIR!” The entire Peerless Battalion roared in reply. Their worst fear was that Zhou Weiqing would submit, and their greatest hope was for him to act up and continue. After all, since when did rufﬁans care about rules or reason? In the ﬁrst place, before they spoke of right or wrong, Green Wolf was dying right in front of them, and for the Peerless Battalion soldiers, especially those from his Company… if not for Wei Feng and the other Company Leaders holding them back, they would have already rushed forward to kill their foes.

If at this moment Zhou Weiqing did not take charge and be on their side, with the characters of these rufﬁans, there might be a high chance of mutiny.

The Peerless Battalion soldiers all turned and ran back to their tents. Not only did they need to wear their mail armour and get their longbows, they also needed to wake their sleeping companions. What was the Sixteenth Regiment after all? Could they even compare to the Swift Wolf Regiment? They had already taken down the Swift Wolf Regiment, how could they possibly be afraid of the Sixteenth Regiment? Now that they had the order from their Battalion Commander, they would stand and ﬁght! “Bastard, Zhou Weiqing, what are you doing?” Shen Bu turned pale in fright. She had not expected that his reaction would be so violently intense, actually wanting to ﬁght it out. After all, no matter what, they were allies… if the two sides fought, as a Regiment Commander she would not be able to avoid responsibility, and even Shen Ji would not be able to save her.

Zhou Weiqing said coldly: “What am I doing? Shen Bu, let Your Father, I, tell you now. I don’t care what reasons you have… all I see now is my brother is dying. I am giving you two options now. First option – you hand over those two murderers who dared beat up my brother for me to deal with, and also have those who struck my men cut off a ﬁnger. Second option – I will bring my men to slaughter your Sixteenth Regiment.”

“You bastard, you are dreaming… you are insane!” At this moment, Shen Bu was in a panic. She could clearly see that Zhou Weiqing was totally serious, not just trying to scare her. She had not expected things would have progressed to such a stage.

Zhou Weiqing continued coldly: “You are right, I am crazy. My brothers did not take any injuries or losses when facing the WanShou armies on the battleﬁeld, who the fuck do you think you are to dare injure my brothers?! Let me tell you… if not for the fact that Legion Commander Shen Ji had been polite, I would not even give you that ﬁrst option. Otherwise, do you think Your Father, I, will waste time talking to you?!”

“And who do you think you are, a mere little Battalion Commander and you dare speak to our Regiment Commander like that? Don’t you know respect?” On the other side, a stout man stepped forward from behind Shen Bu, dressed in full heavy plate mail, his helmet adorned with the orange feather that showed his rank as Battalion Commander.

The Battalion Commander of the Heavy Cavalry Army Battalion. In any Regiment, that was of great importance. A thick Heavenly Energy aura burst forth from his body, revealing his ﬁve sets of Heavenly Jewels. He was actually a Mid Level Zun Stage Heavenly Jewel Master!

Seeing someone step forth from the other side, Zhou Weiqing did not even bother speaking any further. With a stomp of his right foot, before Shen Bu could even speak out to stop the two, he had already charged forward.

His entire body ﬂew forth like an arrow, ﬁst ﬁrst as he struck out towards that Battalion Commander’s chest. That Heavy Cavalry Battalion Commander was deﬁnitely no ordinary person, as he was actually the Vice Regiment Commander of the Sixteenth Regiment. Seeing Zhou Weiqing charge forward so arrogantly, he had after all stepped forward to teach Zhou Weiqing a lesson. In his eyes, that so-called

Peerless Battalion was just a mere motley crew, a bunch of useless rufﬁans. Zhou Weiqing was also after all a Battalion Commander as well, in terms of rank comparison, he was even half a step lower than himself as a Vice Commander.

Since Zhou Weiqing had taken action ﬁrst, he too gave an angry shout and stepped forward to receive the blow with one of his own. Of course, he did exercise some restraint, at least he did not draw his weapon, and his right ﬁst also ﬂew out towards Zhou Weiqing’s incoming ﬁst.

“No!” Shen Bu yelled out loud. Even a six-Jeweled Heavenly Jewel Master like herself had been disadvantaged against Zhou Weiqing, how could her subordinate, at the ﬁve-Jeweled stage, be a match for him?

Alas, her shout was far too late to stop the clash; she had not expected that Zhou Weiqing would take action so suddenly.

To become a Heavy Cavalry Battalion Commander, it was without question that this commander’s Physical Jewel was of the Strength Attribute. After all, the Heavy Cavalry troops did not require much ﬁne control, but massive strength. Absolute strength would make them a metal fortress bearing down upon their enemies, one of the rare units that could actually clash head on with the WanShou Empire armies.

Alas, Zhou Weiqing’s strength was also his greatest advantage. In the same stage, especially with the ‘Hate Sky no Handle’ Legendary Set, it could be said that his strength was incomparable.

Although this Heavy Cavalry Battalion Commander in front of him was one Jewel higher, Zhou Weiqing was only a single Heavenly Energy stage lower than him, and the gap was not that huge. With his Dark Demon God Tiger bloodline and the evolving of his physique, how could any ordinary Strength Attribute Heavenly Jewel Master compare with him.

*BANG*

Both sides clashed hard. On the surface, the Heavy Cavalry Battalion Commander should have the advantage. After all, he was dressed in full plate mail, and his ﬁst was protected by his gauntlets, while Zhou Weiqing was using his naked ﬁsts. At this point, both sides had already released their Heavenly Jewels, though neither had used any Skills. The Heavy Cavalry Battalion Commander had been focused on the left wrist of Zhou Weiqing, and though his sleeve was covering them and hiding the Attributes, when any Heavenly Jewel Master used their Stored Skills or Consolidated Equipment, their corresponding Elemental or Physical Jewel would glow. If there was no glow, it was clear that no Skill had been used.

Seeing that Zhou Weiqing’s Elemental Jewels had no glow, and it was just a clash of strength, the Heavy Cavalry Battalion Commander was extremely conﬁdent. Alas, he did not know that he had become the ﬁrst test subject of Zhou Weiqing’s Six Ultimate Skill Manipulation Arts in actual combat.

Indeed, Zhou Weiqing had not used his own Stored Skills. However, surrounding his ﬁst was a subtle light purple-bluish light, covering his entire ﬁst as if it were a glove. As the two ﬁsts clashed, a violent explosion blew up, as if right in all their ears.

The entire gauntlet of the Heavy Cavalry Battalion Commander was blown into smithereens, and even his hand was burned black. From the ﬁst onwards, his entire arm was broken into at least six places, and his entire body was sent ﬂying back from the sheer force of the impact. Even if it were just a clash of strength, he would be of no match for Zhou weiqing, let alone now that Zhou Weiqing had used the Six Ultimate Skill Manipulation Arts to suppress a layer of Lightning Attribute around his ﬁst. This half a year, he had been training in such a control, and perhaps this might not

be of great use in an all out battle, but in this sort of probing clash, it deﬁnitely held a surprise factor.

Shen Bu knew Zhou Weiqing’s power very well, and as a result, she had already been charging towards the pair as soon as Zhou Weiqing took action.

Alas, it was too late. Zhou Weiqing’s strike had just been too fast.

Almost at the same time as the pained scream was about to emit from the Heavy Cavalry Battalion Commander, Zhou Weiqing’s ﬁst which had sent him ﬂying had extended out once more in a palm strike, causing the scream to be cut off immediately.

Shen Bu charged forward at once, but what greeted her was the ﬂying body of the Heavy Cavalry Battalion Commander. With no choice, she could only stop and shout angrily, preparing to dodge to the side and continue her charge. Right at that moment, only then did the other Battalion Commanders and personal guards of the Sixteenth Regiment react. Alas, just as they were about to charge forward, a sudden mass of shrill cries rang out, and rows of gleaming arrows thudded into the ground right before them, like an impenetrable wall blocking their path.

Even though these Sixteenth Regiment elite were ﬁne warriors experienced on the battleﬁeld, they were still given a fright by that strong killing intent.

At least over two hundred Peerless Battalion soldiers had returned, dressed in their gleaming titanium alloy mail, glinting in the sunlight so much that it almost blinded the Sixteenth Regiment soldiers

In truth, the Sixteenth Regiment was already well geared far beyond most Regiments. Even so, only the personal guard Company which answered to Shen Bu directly was able to be dressed in a full mail armour. Yet, these Peerless Battalion soldiers were all geared as such, and more so… even though the armor styles seemed similar, it was clear that the quality of materials used was unique, far superior even. The dark silver glow gave one the strange feeling of a sharp edge, and though the Sixteenth Regiment soldiers were not able to guess what material it was, it was clear that it was no ordinary mail. Currently, the two hundred Peerless Battalion soldiers were standing there with their longbows drawn, gleaming arrow tips pointing right at them. Those were after all powerful longbows, and both sides were less than ﬁfty yards apart. At such a distance, even a lower ranked Heavenly Jewel Master might not be able to dodge such arrows, let alone ordinary soldiers. Furthermore, there wasn’t much space in the entire camp for them to dodge. If the Peerless Battalion soldiers ﬁred, it would undoubtedly be a slaughter. Instantly, the Sixteenth Regiment soldiers froze in place, not daring to move a muscle. It was clear that the previous salvo of arrows was a warning, and if they dared move past that row of arrows, those rufﬁans of the Peerless Battalion would not hesitate to actually ﬁre.

Zhou Weiqing could clearly sense which direction Shen Bu was attempting to wheel around and charge from. His right hand was still holding on to the Heavy Cavalry Battalion Commander, while his left hand struck out towards Shen Bu, a brilliant green light emitting from his palm. Once again, he did not use his Stored Skills, making use of the Six Ultimate Skill Manipulation Arts to mimic a Skill again.

In the ﬂash of green light, Shen Bu found that she was suddenly unable to move. It was the Fetters of Wind, the Control Skill of the Wind Attribute! The Fetters of Wind had been unleashed using his Six Ultimate Skill Manipulation Arts. Ever since he had seen his teacher use that Skill months ago, Zhou Weiqing had spent a lot of time over the past six months in mimicking that Skill. At this point, he was already able to continuously unleash it, given sufﬁcient Heavenly Energy, without any cooldown at all. This was the true essence and

power of the Six Ultimate Skill Manipulation Arts!

The Fetters of Wind was after all a Seven Star rated Skill, and its drain on Heavenly Energy was not inconsiderable. However, do not forget that Zhou Weiqing was currently not fully using his own personal Heavenly Energy, as he was still in the midst of Devouring that Heavy Cavalry Battalion Commander’s Heavenly Energy. It could be said that he was completely using his opponent’s Heavenly Energy, converting it into his own Wind Attribute Heavenly Energy to power a continuous series of Fetters of Wind to restrict Shen Bu.

When she was ﬁrst hit by one Fetters of Wind, Shen Bu did not make much of it. After all, she had fought with Zhou Weiqing before and knew that he had such a Skill. The Heavenly Energy gap between the two of them was still pretty considerable, and she was conﬁdent that if she used all her strength to break free, she could only be restricted for a second. However, she soon realised that something was very wrong, as Zhou Weiqing’s second Fetters of Wind soon fell on her almost instantly as she broke free of the ﬁrst, as if almost before she had even broken free. Once again, her body froze in place, unable to move.

At that point, Zhou Weiqing was already very close to Shen Bu, and a disdainful smirk crossed his lips as he said passively: “Regiment Commander Shen Bu, you were no match for me previously, and the result will be no different now. Do you really think that my previous win over you was just luck?”

As he was speaking, Zhou Weiqing had already used his ﬁfth Fetters of Wind. With an abrupt strike out of his left palm, he dis-compassionately released a Lightning Explosive Palm.

Another huge explosion, and Shen Bu’s body was sent ﬂying back by his blow. With Shen Bu’s cultivation level, such a blow was not sufﬁcient to actually injure her seriously, but having her entire body numbed was deﬁnitely not a good feeling. Furthermore, she had been sent ﬂying so easily in front of so many people.

At this point, her rage had already reached a boiling point, and by now she had already dismissed all her previous qualms and misgivings. As soon as she landed on the ground, she charged forward once more, all of her Consolidated Equipment releasing out at once, the Flame Blade in her hands glowing brilliantly. In that moment, she looked as if she was ready to pit her life against Zhou Weiqing.

However, without warning, a huge man intercepted her, looking like a mountain range towering over her.

A massive, heavy shield blocked her Flame Blade with a loud slamming sound, insurmountable natural chasm.

*PENG* Shen Bu felt as if she had struck an immovable rock, the sheer shock wave from the backlash causing her to stagger back a few steps before she regained her balance.

At last, she could see that man clearly. A tall, muscular man dressed in simple army uniform. His features were simple and plain, looking to be about thirty years of age, and his tough, stout face was clearly lined in the bright sun. Standing there, his aura was strong and stable, almost unfathomable like a deep chasm or a tall mountain, that seemed to even surpass Zhou Weiqing’s. Six Heavenly Jewels spun around his wrists, and that massive shield was held at an angle in front of his body. The sheer size of the shield could fully cover even that huge body of his. On the shield, the obvious six sockets inlying it almost shocked Shen Bu as the visage entered her eyes. “Get lost!” Shen Bu howled in rage as she charged forward abruptly again, the Flame Blade in her hands striking out in a ﬂurry of angry blows.

Without question, the person blocking her was Lin TianAo. As soon as Zhou Weiqing took action, how could he be any slower, and he had rushed forward immediately, just in time to block Shen Bu’s crazed attack.

Lin TianAo’s Six-Jewel Assembly Set Shield was not something that Shen Bu could easily break. Previously, when they were facing the Heavenly King Stage powerhouse Han Tianyou, Lin TianAo was still able to block him for a short time, and that was more than enough to speak for his capabilities. Lin TianAo’s offensive capabilities were indeed severely lacking, but in terms of defense, he was far beyond any Heavenly Jewel Master of the same level, even those powerhouses from the Great Saint Lands. After all, his personal Ultimate Defense Attributes was highly complemented by the six-Jewel Assembly Set Shield.

Lin TianAo’s shield only moved in extremely small movements, and his steps did not seem fast at all. However, every time he moved at all, he seemed to be able to easily block Shen Bu’s movement, not any direct block, but in an angle that she was unable to use her strength in. Blocking out. A high level positioning technique that Lin TianAo had trained in with years of battle experience behind his belt, extremely powerful no matter against humans or Heavenly Beasts. He had trained and cultivated for so many years, the majority of which had been studying, analysing and researching on how to best improve his defense in any possible way. Not just through taking blows, but also movement, blocking out techniques, and his own personal defenses. It could be said that all of that was already ingrained into his muscle memory, and using it in varied combat situations was as easy as breathing for him. Shen Bu was attacking with all her might, but in front of Lin TianAo, she felt as if all her strength was useless in front of him, being unable to actually use any of her power properly. Lin TianAo did not even retaliate, just using his shield to constantly block all her movement and attacks, and she felt as if she were stuck in a muck, not able to reach Zhou Weiqing despite her best efforts. Lin TianAo was like a castle wall, no matter how hard she tried to batter him down, he stood tall and strong.”

“Stop!” All of a sudden, Zhou Weiqing shouted out loud.

Lin TianAo’s six-Jeweled Assembly Shield Set suddenly changed, a brilliant yellow light shooting forth, and a powerful shock wave shoved Shen Bu back. Clearly, he had been holding back in the ﬁght again Shen Bu. Shen Bu panted hard as she turned to look at Zhou Weiqing, who had currently thrown the Heavy Cavalry Battalion Commander to the ground and had his foot on him. On the side of the Sixteenth Regiment, they all had angry looks on their faces upon seeing that. However, on the side of the Peerless Battalion, more and more of the soldiers were coming out of their tents. To their shock, all of the Peerless Battalion soldiers were dressed in the same full mail, with ﬁne longbows

drawn and arrows pointed at them.

Looking at the Peerless Battalion soldiers whose eyes were ﬁlled with killing intent, as well as the chilling light from the rows of arrows, none of the Sixteenth Regiment soldiers dared make a move. Unless they could somehow call for reinforcements, they knew they would be of no match at all.

Zhou Weiqing glared coldly at Shen Bu and said: “Regiment Commander Shen Bu, I’ll give you one last chance. Hand over those two who critically injured my brother here, and all of you cut off a ﬁnger. Otherwise, all of you can forget about leaving.”

After attacking for so long, Shen Bu had already vented much of her anger, and she was steadily growing calmer. This was the ﬁrst time she had seen Lin TianAo, but his sheer power had deﬁnitely giving her a deep impression. She could sense that even if her Senior Brother Shen Ji was here, even he might not be able to break this man’s defenses.

Furthermore, the Peerless Battalion soldiers were all arrayed in neat formations, their bows drawn and their killing intent clear. If they all released their arrows at the same time, casualties would deﬁnitely number in the hundreds. “Zhou Weiqing, you dare to ﬁre on your allies? Aren’t you afraid of being charged in military court?” Shen Bu threatened in an angry cry.

Zhou Weiqing gave a disdainful humph. “Don’t talk to me about military court. Hmph. I’m afraid the ﬁrst one to be court martialed will be you. Let me ask you, whose camp is this? This is our Peerless Battalion’s camp. It is your Sixteenth Regiment soldiers who have come here to cause trouble, and we are just defending ourselves legitimately. As for death? Do you think only your men dying is considered as death? My brother dying here is not considered? Furthermore, who is the one who started it all? Who left all the rubbish here? My words will not change, I will give you a minute to decide, and if you think I am joking, don’t blame me for being vicious.” As he spoke, he began to exert more pressure on his leg, and the Heavy Cavalry Battalion Commander grunted in pain, his armour already changing shape from the sheer pressure. “You…” Shen Bu was so angry that her entire body was trembling. However, she was at a total loss about what to do. If she were to give in now, how would she command the Sixteenth Regiment in the future? It would be tantamount to the entire Sixteenth Regiment bowing down to a mere Rufﬁan Battalion, and they would never be able to hold their heads up high any longer. Yet, if she did not give in, if this continued progressing onwards, let alone being on the upper hand, it was likely she would not have any good ending. That Zhou Weiqing

had the Heaven’s Expanse Palace background, even the northern army command might not be able to actually deal with them.

At this point, Shen Bu was starting to regret her actions, regret that she did not listen to her Senior Brother’s words. Shen Ji had warned her long ago not to provoke Zhou Weiqing. After all, they were from the Heaven’s Expanse Palace, and such a background was not something they could take on. Alas, the two sisters Shen Bu and Shen Yi just could not suppress the anger within them.

Who knew, things would reach such a stage, and it was almost impossible for them to back down in a good way now.

All of a sudden, a loud, drunken sounding voice rang out. “What are all of you doing? It’s so early in the morning, and you all are already making so much noise?”

Hearing that voice, Zhou Weiqing’s killing intent lessened slightly, the anger in his face subsiding as he turned around.

The one who spoke, and just arrived, was his teacher, the Six Ultimate Heavenly Emperor Long Shiya. Furthermore, right beside him was another teacher of his… Mu En.

Mu En glanced towards Zhou Weiqing, a sly look on his face. The two of them had walked in linked shoulder to shoulder, swaying side to side as they did so. The two looked totally like a pair of old drunks who had too much to drink the night before. From appearance, Mu En looked even older than Long Shiya.

“Teacher.” Zhou Weiqing bowed slightly to the pair.

Long Shiya gave him a hard look, saying exasperatedly: “Early in the morning and you’re disrupting our beauty sleep, how irritating. However, Weiqing, you really do have a good master! No wonder you turned out into such a sly little brat.” As he said that, he clapped Mu En on the shoulder. From the look of it, the two of them seemed like old friends who had not seen each other for years.

Zona Novel Online

Heavenly Jewel Change Chapter 141-150

Chapter 141 Heavenly Emperor Disciple!

Chapter 142 Hate Sky No Handle, Hate Ground No Handle!

Chapter 143 Future Three Grand Armies!

Chapter 144 Good beginnings!

Chapter 145 Swift Wolf Regiment!

Chapter 146 One versus One | Butler!

Chapter 147 Peerless Air Force!

Chapter 148 Heavenly Emperor Returns!

Chapter 149 God Tier Consolidating Equipment Master Joins!

Chapter 150 Rage!

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