Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
The Demon-Buster Valley became peaceful; no one dared to find trouble with the Fire Phoenix Army anymore!
However, the real trouble soon started. When Jiang Yi went to the new recruits’ office to select more soldiers at dusk, he found that there wasn’t a single person there. Besides the dearth of Demon-Killing Battle King-equivalent formidable martial artists, there wasn’t even a single Battle King-equivalent.
The new recruits’ camp was empty; it was evident that all the different armies had enticed all the new recruits. Furthermore, Jiang Yi realized there were men stationed around the new recruits’ camp. Probably, whenever new recruits came, they were immediately taken away. Jiang Yi had wanted to do the same initially but dispelled that notion soon.
Since the various powerful factions in the Demon-Buster Army had started to create problems for him, the odds of the Fire Phoenix Army being able to recruit anyone new in the near future were very low. Even if he sent someone to be stationed here, others could directly send men to the Teleportation Formation and immediately recruit them from there.
After taking a look around, Jiang Yi returned to the Fire Phoenix Army decisively. Unexpectedly, he saw Di Ling’er outside the entrance to the Fire Phoenix Army camp. Di Ling’er had not entered; she was only standing outside the camp. She looked a little hesitant and nervous.
“Young Mistress Ling’er, why have you come? Why didn’t you go in?”
Jiang Yi laughed and said from afar. He had good feelings about Di Ling’er. This was a very kind and gentle girl; she did not have the bad-tempered airs of a great family clan young mistress and was just like a neighbor’s young daughter.
“Jiang Yi!”
Di Ling’er saw as Jiang Yi brought Poison Spirit briskly forward as her face revealed a silver of delight. However, it soon became a look of coyness as she said, “It is nothing, actually. I am just walking around aimlessly and suddenly walked into this place; I wanted to just say hi and see you.”
“Haha!”
How good was Jiang Yi at seeing through one’s excuses and lies? He did not believe Di Ling’er for a second. He asked directly, “Young Mistress Ling’er, if you need any help, you can ask me directly! Don’t worry. If I can help, I will definitely do so.”
Di Ling’er lowered her head. She paused for quite a while before she mustered her courage and said, “Jiang Yi, I wish to join the Fire Phoenix Army. I know that my battle strength is lacking… I just wish to join the Fire Phoenix Army and do some clerical work. Is that feasible?”
“Uh?”
Jiang Yi did not expect that Di Ling’er actually wanted to enter the Fire Phoenix Army? Jiang Yi’s brows knotted as he asked, “That isn’t an issue, actually. However, can you be so easily transferred over? If your side gives the go-ahead, then there is no issue at all.”
“I can! Commander Hua has said that it is not an issue.”
Di Ling’er’s eyes lit up; she was overjoyed. She came running over, smiling, and said, “I will go and look for Commander Hua now.”
“Wait!”
Jiang Yi gestured and pointed to Poison Spirit, smiling lightly. He said, “Poison Spirit, please go with Young Mistress Ling’er. Once you two are back, make arrangements and inform Qi Yue that Young Mistress Ling’er is to be given the best clerical position.”
Poison Spirit brought the elated Di Ling’er and left as Jiang Yi went to look for Qi Yue and Qi Xia. He said, “Qi Xia, bring me to see the general. Qi Yue, Di Ling’er will be transferred to the Fire Phoenix Army later on; please arrange a good clerical position for her.”
Now that Jiang Yi was in charge of matters in the Fire Phoenix Army, it was not a problem for a position to be arranged for Di Ling’er. However, Qi Yue was a little hesitant as she asked, “Lord Inspector-General, is there something urgent you need to discuss with the general? The general has said that if nothing serious has happened, we weren’t to disturb her seclusion.”
“Something serious is happening now!”
Jiang Yi coldly waved his hand and said, “Just bring me to the general; you two do not have to bother with anything else.”
Qi Yue helplessly nodded as Qi Xia brought Jiang Yi near the castles. Soon, they arrived outside a huge castle. Two female bodyguards stood there as Qi Xia beckoned and said, “Go and report to Young Mistress that the Inspector-General would like to see her.”
“Jiang Yi, come in!”
A soft voice rang out; it was Qi Qingchen’s voice. Jiang Yi rolled his eyes. Qi Qingchen was obviously not in seclusion; she had just been hiding here and enjoying a few days of peace as Jiang Yi was putting out fires everywhere.
Jiang Yi walked in briskly while Qi Xia stayed behind. Qi Qingchen had not asked her to enter as well, and she could only stand guard outside.
Qi Qingchen’s castle was very grand; it was so much bigger than the one Jiang Yi and company were living in and was also much more lavish. Snow-white carpets were laid out everywhere. Qi Qingchen was just sitting in the main hall and reading a book, with a pot of tea next to her. She was dressed rather casually today and wore a pure-white dress without any accessories. Her hair had also been casually braided, and her snow-white, beautiful neck was revealed. She looked very relaxed and even a little lazy; she was like a small cat that was full of grace and charm.
Jiang Yi took a few looks at her and didn’t dare to look anymore. The number-one beauty of the Earth Domain was becoming more and more attractive with every look; she could mesmerize anyone she wanted to.
Jiang Yi sat down without an invitation and even poured himself a cup of tea. He drank a cup as he said, “General, at this point in time, it is impossible to recruit more soldiers. Let’s head out for a mission and battle immediately!”
Qi Qingchen’s eyelids did not raise the slightest as she casually flipped a page of her book. She said softly, “Let’s hear what ideas you have.”
“Nice job!”
Jiang Yi praised silently. Pretty ladies abound; however, few were both pure in heart and spirit and also possess formidable martial prowess. Jiang Yi elaborated, “The Fire Phoenix Army has now been isolated; the various well-established factions in the Demon-Buster Army have also started to cause trouble for us secretly. We will not be able to recruit anyone in the short run; no formidable martial artists would willingly join us as well.
“Since that was the case, let’s keep going out for battles and create a name for ourselves, receiving huge amounts of battle merits and allowing all Fire Phoenix Army soldiers to reap huge rewards. This way, many formidable martial artists would definitely be jealous. We wouldn’t even need to do recruitment, and many would naturally apply to be transferred over to us.”
“Since you have already thought this through, let’s do as you have suggested!” Qi Qingchen still had not raised her head. She only waved slightly and said, “Go and make arrangements; call me when it is time to move out.”
“…”
Jiang Yi was speechless. Qi Qingchen was really not going to do anything; was this what a general should be like? However, thinking about it again, Qi Qingchen was here to learn and hone her skills; everything else was indeed not important to her. However many battle merits she could get, however strong the Fire Phoenix Army became… were all meaningless to her.
“Let’s go!”
Jiang Yi also didn’t want to waste his breath on Qi Qingchen anymore as he casually cupped his hands and left. Qi Qingchen waited for Jiang Yi to leave before she lifted her head and smiled slightly; it was mesmerizing.
…
After Jiang Yi brought Qi Xia and left, he immediately went to headquarters to take on a mission. Since he could not recruit any more men, he gave up that notion for now. The Fire Phoenix Army had more than a hundred Demon-Killing Battle God-equivalent formidable martial artists. Furthermore, he and Qi Qingchen were equivalent to a thousand-strong army. Surely ordinary missions would be easy for them, right?
Under Qi Xia’s direction, the duo went to the Mission Office. However, after perusing through what was available, Jiang Yi once again had a headache. The factions in the Demon-Buster Army had struck once again. Almost all the missions had been taken up; only three of the lowest level missions remained. These were also the least worthwhile missions that were difficult and with little battle merits as rewards.
“Southern Wasteland Mystic Realm’s Blood Moon Valley has been taken over by the Netherworld Realm; a hundred Netherworld Generals and two hundred thousand Netherworld Envoys. A million battle merits…”
Jiang Yi looked at the information scroll of one of the missions as his face darkened. Although the reward was a million battle merits, it would trickle down and be split among the entire army. There wasn’t much left for each person even though the Fire Phoenix Army only had a hundred over men now.
In comparison, the other armies at least had fifty thousand men; the Heaven-Splitting Army even had two hundred thousand men. Once the general, commanders, and other officials took their lion’s share, how many battle merits were left for ordinary soldiers?
“Forget it, I’ll take this one!”
Jiang Yi looked at the other two missions’ scrolls and finally decided on the first one. The mission location for this was actually very close to the Demon-Buster Army headquarters. The scroll indicated it only required half a day’s journey to get to the Southern Wasteland Mystic Realm. Since this mission wouldn’t take up too much time, it was worth a shot.
